Operation: Love Love Idol Connection DESS!
by Xesphanite
Summary: When Kirika and Shirabe stumble upon an article regarding Tsubasa with a new beau, the two would not stand for it for they firmly believe that Maria should be the one to be with Tsubasa. They make it their life-long mission to get the two idols together. Or they try to anyways. Pairings: Kirika/Shirabe, Maria/Tsubasa, Hibiki/Miku
1. Operation Start!

It was an unusual lazy Saturday afternoon as Kirika and Shirabe were in their shared room in the S.O.N.G. sub. Both were lying on their makeshift bed, having pushed together the two single beds in the room to make one larger bed.

Kirika lied on her stomach and she occasionally kicked her foot up in the air as she browsed her phone. Shirabe sat beside Kirika, her legs curled underneath her as she read a book. The two were mostly quiet, as they enjoyed their rare time off in what seemed to be weeks.

"There are a lot of articles about Tsubasa-san and Maria." Kirika hummed excitedly as she looked through several online gossip columns. "I need to catch up on reading them."

"Tell me if there's anything interesting." Shirabe requested conversationally, not even bothered to look at Kirika as she was too busy with her book.

As both girls were friends of the two aforementioned idols, it wasn't really unusual for them to check on articles regarding their friends. What most didn't know however was that Kirika and Shirabe (and Maria) were long time fans of Zwei Wing.

Well, it was a little obvious for Kirika and Shirabe as they did sing Orbital Beat that one time but even after they became friends with Tsubasa, they never really told her or advertised it anyway. To be honest, they were mostly embarrassed to admit it.

"Oh here's an exclusive interview before the GenesiX concert and pictures of the promotional shoot." Kirika announced as she found a suitable article. In response, Shirabe placed a pink ribbon at the page she had just been reading and promptly placed it down on the nearby table. She then mimicked Kirika's position so that she was also on her stomach as the other girl shifted so that they were both comfortable and can see Kirika's phone.

"Maria never mentioned this interview." Shirabe commented with a slightly furrowed brow as she leaned her head on Kirika's shoulder to better see the article. Kirika hummed in agreement as she absently leaned closer to Shirabe as well.

"She didn't even tell us that there was a promotional shoot." Kirika pouted a little as she swiped her thumb down to read more of the article. Not that she could really blame Maria as they hadn't been able to talk about something as mundane as photo shoots when they were being threatened by the Auto-Scorers and Carol. She'll have to ask Maria to tell her the details of this little shoot some other day.

Kirika's eyes practically glittered in excitement as a gallery of the pictures came into view and she enthusiastically jabbed her finger on the phone so that the pictures can be shown in full. There were a dozen pictures in the gallery, all showcasing Maria and Tsubasa in their stage costumes.

"Pretty." Shirabe murmured as her lips quirked into a small smile.

"They look really good together." Kirika squealed in agreement as she nodded several times as if to cement her words as fact. They had to stop for a moment to fawn over a particularly beautiful picture of Maria and Tsubasa standing back to back with a very nice background of the sunset and the sea.

"I wish that they'd really get together." Shirabe sighed softly, almost dreamily. "Maria has been smiling more lately because of Tsubasa-san."

"Yeah, Tsubasa-san is really cool and really good for Maria. They'd be like, the best couple ever!" Kirika enthused as she agreed wholeheartedly.

"Even the tabloids agree with us." Shirabe smiled a bit in smug amusement at the thought. "They talk a lot about their partnership." Even back when the pair sung Fusichou no Flamme way back in the Queens of Music concert, their obvious chemistry onstage was talked about for ages, renewed with more vigor after the release of Seiten Galaxy Cross.

As the two finally got to the end of the article, there were links to more articles to be found at the bottom and a link to go back to the home page. Kirika chose to go back to the home page of the site while Shirabe sat back up to continue her reading of her book.

"Hey, what's this?" Kirika stared down at her phone, brows furrowed

"What's wrong?" Shirabe asked curiously as she glanced back at her.

"There's this new article. Let's see… 'Exclusive! Kazanari Tsubasa caught with a mysterious beau!'." Kirika read aloud. Immediately, both of them paled and looked at each other with comically wide eyes.

"D-D-Dess?!" Kirika yelped in disbelief, finally sitting up properly. "There's no way that should happen! Only Maria could be together with Tsubasa-san!"

"Isn't this what you call being unfaithful?!" Kirika looked a bit like she was about to panic. That couldn't be true right?! There's no way that Tsubasa would get together with someone else when she has someone like Maria!

"They have to actually be together for that to be applicable Kiri-chan." Shirabe responded wisely, being a bit calmer about the news than Kirika. "Although I agree with you. They're the ones that should be together." She frowned thoughtfully at the glaring headline. Neither of them wanted to even think about Maria and Tsubasa not being together.

"Then let's do something about it Shirabe!" Kirika exclaimed in determination as she whipped out her beautiful super spy glasses from nowhere and put them on.

"But what should we do?" Shirabe fretted a little as she put on her spy glasses as well.

"We'll get them together! We'll become matchmakers and we'll call it…" Kirika paused for dramatic effect. "The Operation Love Love Idol Connection DESS!" Kirika then posed with a 'V' for victory sign and Shirabe clapped demurely in response.

"So how are we going to do it?" Shirabe tilted her head in question as Kirika settled back down with a pleased grin.

"Uh, I'm not sure." Kirika deflated a bit as scratched her head sheepishly. She didn't really have an idea on how to bring two people together. "But if the two of us think together, then we'll be able to do it!" Kirika brightened up again as she grinned earnestly at Shirabe.

"Okay. Let's brainstorm on our plan." Shirabe's eyes softened a bit as she watched Kirika be enthusiastic. It was always so heartwarming to see Kirika so determined. It's one of the things that Shirabe loved about the other girl. "So Kiri-chan, what would you do if you want to tell someone that you like them?"

"Eh..? I'm the one that has to answer?" Kirika was caught off-guard at the rather blunt question that Shirabe posed. An answer immediately came to mind however but Kirika blushed brightly as it was a little embarrassing.

Shirabe waited patiently for her answer, her eyes unblinking as she stared at Kirika expectantly. As she was always prone to do when faced with Shirabe's patented stare, Kirika floundered as she stammered her answer.

"I-I just tell them! L-like how I tell you!" Kirika stuttered and blushed deeper at her declaration. Shirabe's own cheeks warmed at the honest answer.

"I… I don't think they're at that stage yet, Kiri-chan." Shirabe said a little unsteadily as she willed her blush away.

"Oh… Right." Kirika laughed nervously as she realized the truth of Shirabe's words. Maybe at the latter stage of the operation they can lock Maria and Tsubasa in a closet and not let them out until they confess but right now, they needed something with a bit more… finesse. Not having any more ideas, Kirika crossed her arms and legs before her eyes closed to better think.

Shirabe was silent for a moment longer as she pondered on how to get Maria and Tsubasa together. Something subtle and private… And then as she looked at Kirika's thinking face, a sudden memory of a folded letter floated in Shirabe's mind and she was struck with an idea.

"That's it." Shirabe announced and Kirika was a little startled as her eyes snapped open.

"What? You thought of something Shirabe?" Kirika asked eagerly.

"Letter." As that one word left Shirabe's lips, Kirika flinched as if struck and her face paled before it turned to a shade of red to rival a tomato.

"W-w-w-what are you saying Shirabe?!" Kirika shook her head frantically as she was vividly reminded of something that she wished with all her heart that never happened.

"Love letters." Shirabe emphasized unerringly.

"Huh?" A little confused and totally flustered, Kirika looked at Shirabe with a slack-jawed expression.

"We can send love letters in their names to each other." Shirabe explained more fully and Kirika gave a relieved sigh as Shirabe made no specific mention to her letter.

"A-are you sure that's a good idea?" Kirika asked with a touch of hesitance. She kind of sucked at writing letters after all…

"Pikan no sora ni shuwashuwa na funsui no shawa…" As the slow words came from Shirabe, Kirika looked like she was about to faint from horror and embarrassment.

"D-DEESS!" Kirika shook her head frantically as she covered her ears with her hands as a futile effort not to hear the rest of Shirabe's words. "Alright already! The idea of love letters is good! Let's do that then!"

As Kirika shouted her defeat, Shirabe smiled smugly and fell silent. Kirika gave a huge sigh of relief as she put her hands down and pouted in defeat. Shirabe can be so mean sometimes!

"So we'll send them love letters to each other?" Kirika asked in confirmation and acceptance as she went back on track. To be fair, Shirabe's idea was kind of good. If only it didn't remind her of THAT. Oh well, she wasn't going to write it as Kirika but as someone else anyway so it should be fine.

"We'll pretend to be them and when they read the letters they'll fall in love! Isn't that how it goes in books and anime?" Shirabe nodded as her thoughts shifted to the possible outcome of the plan. She had seen a few romance stories with love letters and whatnot from books and from the anime that Itaba loaned them before. There's got to be some sort of truth in their depictions right?

"Yeah, but we'll pretend to be them right? And write love letters in their name. How should we do it?" Kirika asked as she felt more comfortable with the plan as time passed.

"Well… What are the characteristics of Maria and Tsubasa-san that are unique to them?" Shirabe pursed her lips in thought. They would need to emulate the pair of idols pretty good if their plan was going to succeed.

"Tsubasa-san is really Japanese-y." Kirika suggested as she briefly thought it over. "I remember that it was mentioned in a magazine that one of her hidden strengths is being knowledgeable in old Japanese poetry." Maybe they can use romantic poetry in the letter.

"Maria's the best at English. She's the one that taught us a lot before." Shirabe then smiled a bit as she fondly remembered that time.

"Then that's it! I'll pretend to be Tsubasa-san and make a letter with lots of old kanji and stuff like that." Kirika grinned triumphantly as they finally have a solid plan. "Shirabe, you're better at English so you can make Maria's letter!"

"Okay, Kiri-chan. I'll try my best." Shirabe nodded with a determined air. With that, the two raided their room for the materials needed for the first step in Operation Love Love Idol Connection. Totally determined, the two completely forgot to even open the troubling article…

* * *

Meanwhile…

"Oh, a new article about Tsubasa-san." Miku commented in surprise as she browsed the internet on her phone. A little intrigued at the rather eye-catching headline; she opened the article and skimmed through it. She enlarged the picture that the article was bragging about, only to see Tsubasa with a familiar pink-haired idol that clung to her arm and wore familiar yellow sunglasses.

"Oh, it's just Tsubasa-san with Maria-san." Miku was actually a little disappointed as the one the headline talked about was just Maria. "They made it sound like it's such a big deal."

But then Miku smiled a little at how comfortable those two are with regards to their affections. "Aww, they do look good together. I wonder if they're going to come clean soon…"


	2. Letter

To say that Kirika was struggling was a monumental understatement. Writing a letter while pretending to be Tsubasa was a lot harder than she thought! She tried to do some romantic haikus but gave up even before she could think of one line. Not knowing what else to do she read through her Japanese literature book from school to see if there was something she can use but she deemed that it just wasn't archaic and complicated enough to suit Tsubasa.

"This really isn't working…" Kirika moaned as she balled up her fourth piece of paper and threw it at the nearby wastebasket. "I think I need help."

"Try Ogawa-san." Shirabe murmured absently, her brows furrowed as she consulted the internet on her phone. "He can help since he's a ninja." Ogawa was probably the only person aside from Tsubasa who was 'Japanese' enough to help. Besides, he was also Tsubasa's manager so there's got to be some similarities between the two.

"Oh that's right! He's a Japanese ninja! Maybe he has something that can help me." Kirika perked up as she immediately jumped up and rushed out of the room to find him. She tried the bridge first as Ogawa could usually be found there. To her luck however, she found him in the nearby pantry, a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Ogawa-san!" Kirika yelled excitedly, waving her arms to get his attention.

"Ah, Kirika-san." Ogawa inclined his head at her, a pleasant smile on his lips. "Is there something you need?"

"You're a Japanese ninja right?" Kirika asked eagerly.

"…Yes." Ogawa blinked at the straightforward question but answered anyways.

"That means you're the most Japanese person here aside from Tsubasa-san right?" Kirika asked again, her eyes practically shining.

"Uh…" Ogawa didn't know how to answer that but Kirika ploughed on with her request nonetheless.

"Do you happen to have an old book of Japanese poetry or a book with really complicated kanji? The older the better!"

"Ah, I think I might just have the thing." Ogawa nodded to the strange request and within minutes, Kirika had in her arms a book that contained a collection of poetry from the Heian Period and a thick book full of archaic kanji.

Now equipped with what she needed, Kirika tackled the letter with renewed vigor. She was rightly overwhelmed at the book of poetry though since there were so many of them and the book was so thick. It was a struggle just reading the damn thing since she wasn't that good at kanji either. Annoyed, she just opened the book to a random page and chose the first poem she found. She copied the poem painstakingly by hand, consulting the kanji book ever so often to see the correct stroke order of each kanji that was unfamiliar to her.

Trying to cement the fact that this letter was from Tsubasa, Kirika then copied the lyrics of Koi no Okehazama. Maria would surely have known that Tsubasa was fond of that song and even had her own cover of it. She then changed the kanji to better correspond to the old poem, unknowingly changing the meaning of the lyrics.

Meanwhile, Shirabe consulted the internet to find famous English love poetry or love stories. She ended up with William Shakespeare who was reputed to be one of the best writers in the English language and his most famous work; 'Romeo and Juliet'. Shirabe ended up quoting Shakespeare in the letter she was writing in the guise of Maria even if she didn't really understand most of it. Well, most of the world thought it was good so who was she to contest that?

Shirabe easily found an e-book of the famous literary masterpiece and since she wouldn't be able to even start reading the whole thing, she decided to just copy the back portion of the book. That would most likely be the happily ever after part of the story. She frowned as she struggled to read the words. This seems a bit different from the English that Maria taught her. With a shrug, Shirabe just copied it. She then remembered that Maria had released an English song so that would be appropriate for the letter. Shirabe looked up the lyrics of Dark Oblivion and placed them in as well. The letter was now a mish mash of old modern English and the odd yet poetic English of Dark Oblivion.

It took a few hours before they were finished with their masterpieces. They spent the whole afternoon making their respective letters and it was just about dinner time.

"I'm done!" Kirika announced proudly, admiring the white and pink stationery that bore the fruit of her labor. Hopefully, Maria wouldn't notice the sloppiness of the writing but Kirika really did try her best to copy those damn outdated kanji!

"Me too." Shirabe said as she smiled softly, the blue stationery with her hard work in her hand. Shirabe was faintly worried about the grammatical correctness of the content as she mostly copied lines but she was sure that Tsubasa would get its meaning just fine!

"Now we put them in envelopes…" Kirika trailed off as she carefully folded the letter in her hands and slid it in an envelope that matched the stationery, her tongue peeking out from her lips. Shirabe did the same to her letter and now their plan was ready.

"How are we going to give them?" Shirabe asked. "Should we leave it in their rooms during dinner?"

"Let's just give it to them now!" Ever impatient Kirika exclaimed, looking quite fired up. After all their hard work, it was all but guaranteed that their plan is going to work. Besides, Kirika wanted to see the reactions of the idols when they read the letters. Maybe by tomorrow Tsubasa and Maria would be girlfriends already! Kirika was giddy with excitement at the prospect.

"Okay. We'll give it to them and make sure they read it." Shirabe nodded her agreement. Maybe she'll even get to see them get all flustered and cute. With a determined nod to each other, they split up to look for their respective idol. Not that they had to go that far as Maria and Tsubasa's rooms were in the same hallway as theirs.

Kirika was practically vibrating with excitement as she knocked on Maria's door. The door then promptly swung open, revealing a freshly showered Maria, her hair obviously still wet. Most likely she had been training with Tsubasa since Maria needed a few more pointers on swordplay. Kirika absently thought that she should take time to train some more as well.

"Oh, Kirika." Maria greeted her with a warm smile. "What's wrong? I was about to go to dinner."

"I have something for you!" Kirika said brightly as she waved the letter she was holding.

"A letter?" Maria questioned, looking curious as she stepped back and allowed Kirika to come in.

"I think it's from an admirer of yours." Kirika sing-songed, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Maria just looked a little baffled and curious as she snatched the letter from Kirika. Without preamble, she slid the envelope open and extracted the letter from within. Kirika watched Maria excitedly, her eyes shining as she waited for Maria to read it.

"Hmm, there's no sender." Maria murmured as she scanned the bottom of the letter. Kirika wanted to smack herself as she realized that she forgot to place Tsubasa's name in the letter! But that's okay, she can just tell Maria when she finishes reading.

"…Is this kanji? I… I can't seem to read any of this." Maria looked thoroughly confused as she looked up from the letter. Kirika visibly deflated and her excitement drained away at Maria's words.

"B-but, I think that's kanji. You can read that just fine right?" Kirika insisted. Her heart sank as Maria shook her head in response.

"I am trying but half of these I don't even recognize while the other half makes no sense when I read them. To be honest, I'm still having a difficult time with Japanese kanji. It's only been a few years since I started living in Japan." Maria's brows were furrowed as she folded the letter again, admitting her weakness fairly easily as she blushed a little.

Kirika now really wanted to kick herself as she realized that Maria's Japanese was self-taught. She was technically a foreigner as she was born in Eastern Europe and they had spent a lot of years in the FIS labs. It's not like Maria had a formal education in Japanese. She most likely just learned enough to comfortably communicate in daily circumstances. She wouldn't know much about old and outdated kanji.

"Maybe I should ask Tsubasa if she can read it." Maria thought aloud. Kirika turned white as a sheet but she fought the impulse to panic. She was now very glad she forgot to write Tsubasa's name. She could be in big trouble if Tsubasa found out that someone was using her name to write love letters.

"Although for some strange reason…" Maria unfolded the letter again and stared at it for a few seconds. "The handwriting looks familiar."

Cold sweat started forming at Kirika's back at Maria's declaration. This is bad..!

"Ahaha… I wonder who wrote it?" Kirika forced herself to say those words as a last ditch attempt to appear innocent. Who knows how either Tsubasa or Maria would react if they found out it was her who wrote it. Their plan has been pretty much sunk at this point and she did not want to be reminded of another letter attempt gone wrong.

"So you don't know who wrote it?" Maria asked as she glanced back at Kirika.

"No." Kirika blurted out in denial. "I just… found it outside your door." Kirika prayed that Maria would believe the blatant lie. Thankfully, Maria just hummed in acknowledgement before she opened her door, and went out presumably to find Tsubasa.

"M-Maria! Wait!" Kirika scampered after her as she fervently prayed that things won't get any worse…

* * *

On the other side of the hallway, Shirabe timidly knocked on Tsubasa's door. Out of all the other Symphgear users, Shirabe interacted least with Tsubasa. True, she was a Zwei Wing fan but Shirabe couldn't really help it since she was a little shy. She really should try and talk more with Tsubasa.

"Yes?" Tsubasa answered as she opened the door. Shirabe noticed that Tsubasa's long blue hair was still wet from a shower. Shirabe quickly surmised that she had probably just finished training with Maria. They've been training more often together lately.

"Ah, Tsukuyomi." Tsubasa gave her a small yet friendly smile of greeting. "What's wrong?"

"Letter." Shirabe said shortly, holding up the letter she wrote as Maria.

"For me?" Tsubasa asked curiously. Shirabe nodded wordlessly in response as she offered it to her. Tsubasa took it in her hands, examining the envelope and flipping it over. She made no move to open it however.

"Jii." Shirabe stared at Tsubasa and at the letter intently.

"…Do I have to open this?" Tsubasa guessed, looking a little uncomfortable at Shirabe's stare.

Shirabe gave another nod in reply as she looked expectantly and hopefully at Tsubasa .

"Alright. Come in…" Tsubasa sighed, seemingly getting Shirabe's unspoken message loud and clear. The door opened a little wider as Tsubasa stepped back to let Shirabe come in. Shirabe briefly admired Tsubasa's room as she hadn't been there yet.

"Is this letter important? You seem curious about it." Tsubasa asked as she opened the envelope and took the letter inside. Immediately, Shirabe's attention snapped back to Tsubasa as the letter was taken from the envelope.

"It looked important." Shirabe responded seriously with a single nod.

Tsubasa gave one last puzzled glance at Shirabe before she unfolded the letter to read through it. It only took approximately three seconds before Tsubasa looked up from the letter.

"It's in English." Tsubasa pointed out blankly.

"And?" Shirabe urged her to continue.

"I… don't know how to read English." Tsubasa finally admitted with a shy blush.

That single admission had Shirabe's usual calm facade to crack as her eyes widened in surprise.

"Y-you don't know how?" Shirabe asked in dismay.

"Ah well, I've been trying to study conversational English but I've been busy and uh, Maria's there to translate so I haven't really been keeping up…" Tsubasa looked flustered as she tried to explain herself. Shirabe thought that this floundering Tsubasa was cute but this seriously threw a wrench in their plans! Shirabe had always assumed that since Tsubasa went to London to sing there she studied English but it looked like she was reliant on Maria to translate.

"Ah that's right. I can just ask Maria to read it." Tsubasa then said in realization. Shirabe tensed a little at that. Her face was still expressionless but internally she was trying very hard not to panic. What if they realized that it was her who wrote it? There's a chance that they might get angry for meddling. However, she relaxed slightly when she remembered she forgot to write Maria's name. She was still relatively safe… Hopefully.

"Do you know who wrote this?" Tsubasa asked, snapping Shirabe away from her thoughts. She only wordlessly shook her head, worried that she might say something that would give her away. Tsubasa nodded in response before promptly opening the door to look for Maria.

Shirabe could only helplessly follow as she prayed that they wouldn't get found out...

* * *

It was no surprise when the two pairs of Symphogear Users all met each other in the hallway.

"Tsubasa, Shirabe." Maria blinked as she caught sight of Tsubasa with Shirabe.

"Maria, Akatsuki." Tsubasa responded in kind, her eyebrows raised a little.

Kirika and Shirabe didn't bother talking as both had frozen smiles on their faces even as their eyes mirrored a look of utter panic.

"Is there something wrong? I was just about to look for you." Tsubasa asked with a touch of concern, nodding towards Kirika as a greeting.

"Ah, no. I just needed your help on something." Maria shook her head before glancing at Shirabe's silent face.

"My help?" Tsubasa echoed. "I need your help as well."

"Really?" Maria now sounded a little suspicious. Kirika and Shirabe both recognized the tone immediately and each wondered if they should already start excusing themselves. There was now that creeping fear that they'll be found out. They were fairly certain that Maria would be upset with them for meddling and whatnot and as for Tsubasa… Well, she might get upset as well and neither of them wanted that.

"Kirika brought me a letter and since it's full of kanji, I couldn't really read it." Maria then explained her circumstances.

"Wait, you too? Tsukuyomi brought me a letter but it's entirely in English so I couldn't read it either." Even Tsubasa was starting to sound suspicious and the panic was now starting to show on the two younger girls' faces. Thankfully, Maria and Tsubasa only had their eyes on each other. "I was going to ask for your help, Maria."

"I was going to ask for your help to read my letter as well." Maria said and offered the letter to Tsubasa. They then exchanged letters.

"Should I go first?" Tsubasa asked and Maria nodded. Tsubasa scanned Kirika's letter, her brows furrowing in extreme concentration. She was silent for a minute or so.

"Tsubasa?" Maria asked in concern as Tsubasa was silent.

"It's a little difficult to read." Tsubasa admitted finally. "But I think I've got it. It's a tanka poem from The Lady who Admired Vermin."

"Tanka? The Lady who Admired Vermin?" Maria looked utterly lost. So did Kirika even though she was the one that found it.

"Tanka is a form of Japanese poetry." Tsubasa explained patiently. "The Lady who Admired Vermin is a story about a woman from the Heian period who is considered to be awful at poetry. The tanka in the letter was written by that woman and if I remember correctly, this was intended to be a warning to a man that sent her a fake snake." Kirika was at least right about Tsubasa being knowledgeable in old Japanese poetry. Maria gave a nod to say that she understood.

"The next part seems to be some sort of challenge." Tsubasa continued as she folded Kirika's letter.

"A warning and a challenge?" Maria could not help but repeat in disbelief, confused. Of all the poems that Kirika had to randomly choose, she chose a threatening one?! And the next part wasn't a challenge! It was the improved lyrics of Koi no Okehazama with the kanji changed!

"Yes, that's how I understood it." Tsubasa nodded. "How about my letter, Maria?"

At the request, Maria started reading the Shirabe's letter. It took also a minute or two before Maria looked up with a bit of a perplexed frown on her face.

"It's Romeo and Juliet." Maria pointed out. Tsubasa looked at her blankly at that, indicating that she wasn't familiar with any Shakespearean works either.

"It's a famous English love tragedy about star-crossed lovers. It quotes directly from when the two lovers committed suicide at the end." Maria elaborated. Shirabe's eyes widened at what Maria said. A tragedy?! That's not what she thought the story was about! And the part that she had to have copied was about their suicide?

"Also… There are lines from… Dark Oblivion?" Now Maria looked even more confused. "A tragedy and my song? I don't really understand what they're trying to say."

Tsubasa seemed to realize something when she returned to the letter in her hands and skimmed through it again.

"Oh wait… I get it now, it's not a challenge. The part that I thought was a challenge was from Koi no Okehazama." Tsubasa realized. "Some of the kanji got changed and I interpreted it wrong."

"I see… So the letter to me is about a warning and a song about obsessive love?" Maria asked and Tsubasa nodded.

"Neither of the two letters makes much sense." Maria stated the obvious as she read through the letter again, trying to make sense of it.

"But do you think whoever wrote these letters are threatening us?" Tsubasa then asked with a slight troubled frown. "Or maybe they're challenging us?"

"The contents of the letters are rather ominous." Maria said as she nodded to Tsubasa's guess. "Moreso on the letter that is supposedly addressed to me." Maria then referred to Kirika's letter.

"Maybe the letter to me is a warning of some sort if it is a story of tragedy and a song about overcoming fear and darkness." Tsubasa continued to vocalize her thoughts as she tried to make sense of Shirabe's letter.

Both Kirika and Shirabe were now red in the face as they felt even more embarrassed as Maria and Tsubasa's speculations became more and more outrageous . They couldn't rebuke either Maria or Tsubasa lest they find out that the pair of letters was from them. Now that they saw the two idols' reaction and misinterpretation of it, Operation Love Love Idol Connection was totally sunk.

"Y-you know maybe it's just a prank or something!" Kirika forced out cheerfully, letting the other two know that she was still there along with Shirabe. To be honest, Kirika just wanted them to stop talking about the letters! She was already embarrassed enough as it is without them trying so hard to extract more ominous meanings to what she wrote.

"It doesn't seem to be important after all so..." Shirabe rallied behind Kirika even as she wanted to let the ground swallow her from embarrassment. That's probably the last time she'll ever write in English for a long time.

"Maybe it was sent to us by mistake." Tsubasa looked inclined to believe the two thankfully. Maria seemed to think it over for a second or two before she nodded in agreement.

"Hmm." Maria looked like she was still suspicious about the whole thing but then she shrugged. "I guess it could just be a prank. I would wonder however who would even do such a thing here in S.O.N.G." Kirika and Shirabe both flinched a little at that and they both looked at each other nervously. Thankfully, for all their suspicion, Maria and Tsubasa didn't seem to suspect Kirika and Shirabe as the perpetrators.

"Hahaha, you never know…" Kirika laughed weakly as Shirabe nodded vigorously.

"We'll just… throw those away then." Kirika said as she snatched the letter she wrote from Tsubasa's hands. Shirabe held out her hand towards Maria and the letter was placed mercifully in her hand.

"Alright then." Tsubasa said slowly with raised eyebrows but thankfully made no further comments.

"It's almost dinner. You can go ahead." Shirabe changed the subject abruptly as she wanted the conversation to be as far away from the letters as possible.

"Yeah, we'll follow in a bit." Kirika forced a grin on as she waved at them.

"Alright then. You two better hurry or you'll miss dinner." Maria told them sternly as she started walking towards the mess hall with Tsubasa in tow. The two waited until Maria and Tsubasa disappeared around the corner before they went back in their room and slammed the door close.

"We failed." Kirika moaned as she slumped against the door.

"I know, Kiri-chan." Shirabe could only nod in agreement.

"That was awful. Since there were so many poems I just chose a random one! I didn't think it'll be a poem about threatening someone!" Kirika sounded a little frustrated as she frowned down at the letter clutched in her hand.

"I read that Romeo and Juliet was one of the most well-known love stories. I didn't know it ended badly." Shirabe said sadly, regretting the fact that she should've read more about the story.

"Let's just forget about this whole thing." Kirika grumbled and Shirabe was more than happy to agree. Maybe they should also burn the letters for good measure.

After that declaration, there was a moment of silence as the two of them stared at each other before they sighed heavily in unison.

"What are we supposed to do now Kiri-chan?" Shirabe asked, looking a little crestfallen as their brilliant plan blew up in front of their faces.

Thoughts of the consequence of this utter failure flashed in Kirika's mind. She imagined a shadowy dude taking Tsubasa's hand and then getting married while Maria dramatically cries, alone and heartbroken in the rain.

Kirika then shook her head vigorously, as if clearing her head of all the negativity in it. "We can't give up Shirabe! If we give up, some other person would swoop in and take Tsubasa-san away from Maria, and us!" Kirika exclaimed in determination. There was no way that she was going to let that happen!

"You're right Kiri-chan. We failed on our first try but we'll just have to learn from our mistakes and do better!" Shirabe nodded as seeing Kirika's determination kindled her own. The two of them can't give up now! However it seemed that the task of getting Maria and Tsubasa together is too hard for just the two of them. It was time to ask for backup.

"Maybe we should ask help from the others. They might know what to do." Shirabe suggested.

"Yeah, we're definitely bad at this." Kirika laughed sheepishly. Here's yet another traumatizing letter experience. At least this time she wasn't alone in making an embarrassing letter. She then briefly thought of who they could ask for help and a certain senpai immediately popped into her head.

"Let's go and ask Chris-senpai for help!" Kirika immediately suggested. Chris had always told them that if they needed help they only need to ask.

"She is our senpai and must be more experienced. I'm sure she'll be able to help us." Shirabe nodded in agreement, smiling a little at the thought of asking Chris for help. Personally, Shirabe found Chris to be cute, especially when she acts as the responsible senpai.

"Then it's settled! We'll go ask Chris-senpai tomorrow!" Kirika pumped her fist in the air, feeling a lot more positive now that they moved forward with a newfound plan and hope.

"Yeah." Shirabe mirrored Kirika's action but was a little more subdued about it. Tomorrow, they were definitely going to make Operation Love Love Idol Connection work! But for now, they have to hurry to the dining hall or else Maria would scold them again for being late to dinner.

Kirika offered her hand to Shirabe who gladly took it. Hand in hand, they went to dinner, the letters now resting in the wastebasket.

* * *

Meanwhile…

"Maria, what's wrong?" Tsubasa asked as Maria seemed to be preoccupied by something as they walked to the dining hall. "Are you still thinking about those letters?"

"A little." Maria admitted with a small frown. "I can't help but feel that I recognize the handwriting in those letters." But for the life of her, she can't remember where she's seen it before.

"Well, I'm sure you'll remember if it's really important." Tsubasa smiled before taking a hold of Maria's hand. This surprised Maria as she blushed prettily, forgetting all about her earlier thoughts.

"Tsubasa?" Maria questioned but didn't pull away.

"I just... wanted to." Tsubasa confessed softly as her cheeks lit in a light blush. Maria could feel her own cheeks warm at the honest and unexpected answer.

"I can't?" Tsubasa asked timidly with a small pout as her eyes averted. Maria had to resist the urge to squeal. It was one of the most adorable things that Maria had ever seen as Tsubasa looked a little childish asking. It was unlike her usual stern and calm personality.

Maria squeezed Tsubasa's hand in hers as she shook her head in response. Tsubasa's face lit up with a much wider smile and they both stayed that way until they arrived at the dining hall, forgetting all about those weird letters.


	3. Dinner Plans

Chris trudged on to breakfast as she yawned and rubbed her eyes sleepily. Since it was a Sunday, she could've slept in but as Kirika and Shirabe requested for her presence early in breakfast... She couldn't really say no even when she grumbled and complained. She didn't have it in her to disappoint her beloved underclassmen after all.

"Chris-senpai!" Chris heard Kirika's familiar voice as the younger girl called out to her as soon as she entered the dining hall. Chris winced slightly in response but was a little bit more relieved when she saw that there was hardly any other person in the dining hall except for her two underclassmen.

Kirika waved at her excitedly, pretty much gesturing for Chris to come to them immediately. Shirabe was sitting calmly beside the more energetic girl, a small welcoming smile in place as Chris glanced at her.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Chris sighed to herself as she approached the two.

"We already got you a plate of pancakes, senpai!" Kirika said with a wide, toothy smile that shouldn't belong to anyone's face this early in the morning. Chris rolled her eyes a little but her lips also quirked into a small smile to see Kirika look so energetic.

As Chris sat down in front of the two, Shirabe slid the said plate of pancakes towards her while Kirika placed a glass of orange juice beside the plate. Chris couldn't help but raise an inquiring eyebrow at the special treatment.

"Ah, thanks." Chris muttered as she bit back another yawn. Kirika then practically shoved a fork in front of her face and she had no choice but to take it before she started eating. It was hard not to notice the two staring at her, as if eagerly waiting for Chris to finish her meal. It creeped Chris out just a tiny bit.

"What?" Chris asked suspiciously after she swallowed a mouthful of pancake.

"Nothing." Shirabe answered immediately but her eyes did not waver from Chris. That girl has some stare though as Chris could not help but get embarrassed at being stared at so intensely.

"Look, if you wanna talk about that thing you were mentioning last night, then just go ahead." Chris said as she took a long drink of juice. Kirika and Shirabe glanced at each other for a second before they nodded determinedly.

"Chris-senpai, tell us how to fall in love!" Kirika and Shirabe chorused.

Chris almost spat out the juice she was drinking at the totally unexpected and embarrassing request and she started coughing uncontrollably, her face a brilliant shade of red.

"Wah, senpai don't die!" Kirika exclaimed, reacting quickly as she jumped to her feet and went to Chris' side to pat her back soothingly.

When Chris had her cough under control, one could see the tears in her eyes at the violent hacking but that didn't stop her from glaring in indignant embarrassment at the two of them.

"What kind of a request is that!?" Chris demanded with a slight wheeze. Her blush hadn't abated one bit.

"Ahaha, well…" Kirika laughed awkwardly, looking at Shirabe for help.

"I think we phrased it wrong." Shirabe admitted with a blush of her own.

"We just want advice on how to help get two people to fall in love with each other." Kirika finally explained with a bit more clarity, returning back to her seat.

To be honest, Chris wasn't sure if Kirika's clarification was any better than their first poorly phrased request but at least she had managed to calm down already so she didn't blush as hard as earlier.

"Why are you two even asking that in the first place?" Chris asked rather sternly, crossing her arms. Whatever did these two eat to ask her of all people that question anyway? The two glanced at each other once again before they nodded.

"It's Maria and Tsubasa-san." Shirabe revealed. "We want them to get together."

"Wait, those two?" Chris frowned thoughtfully, "Aren't they always together anyway?" Chris couldn't help but ask in confusion and surprising naivete.

"Well, yeah but they're not girlfriends." Kirika pouted sullenly and Chris sighed as she crossed her arms.

"Look, it's not any of our business if those two are girlfriends or not." Chris scolded but Kirika and Shirabe looked undeterred.

"But we do care! If we don't do anything, Tsubasa might be taken away and Maria would be left forever alone and sad and she would have to adopt cats and she'd become an old, crazy cat lady grandma!" Kirika ranted in one breath, flailing her arms dramatically. It left the impression of a wounded duck flopping helplessly towards a pond. Chris could only look at Kirika like she was the crazy cat lady and not Maria like Kirika envisioned.

"Aren't you being a little too dramatic?" Chris scoffed. These two can really overreact sometimes.

"But this is really important! If we don't move now, it'll be too late!" Kirika argued, still insisting on her point.

"Fine, fine. It's important." Chris caved in relatively easily as she didn't want to argue with someone this early in the morning.

"We did try to get them together but it sort of backfired." Shirabe said softly, fiddling with her hands in a decidedly nervous gesture. "So we thought to ask you for help."

"But I don't know anything about that." Chris responded flatly.

"B-but you're our reliable senpai!" Kirika turned on her puppy-dog eyes to plead her case. Shirabe had the same puppy-dog eyes as she looked at Chris as well. Chris' conviction to not have anything to do with this literally crumbled at the looks the two were sporting. They were playing dirty! Hibiki must've told them that Chris can't resist puppy-dog eyes.

"…Alright already! Geez." Chris exclaimed with all reluctance and exasperation. "Just stop making those stupid faces at me!"

Immediately, Kirika and Shirabe's faces lit up in surprisingly identical smiles and Chris wondered if she already regrets opening her mouth at all. But since she already gave her word, she had to help anyway she can. Chris would never admit it to anyone's face but it was also nice to be referred to as a reliable senpai even though she knew jack squat about how to get two people together.

"So what do you want me to do?" Chris asked a little wearily.

"Well, we would need advice at first. We don't really know what to do get Maria and Tsubasa together." Kirika confessed with a sad, little frown.

"You want to get Maria and Tsubasa together?" A soft, child-like voice asked directly behind them. All three of them jumped in surprise.

"What the hell!" Chris was more vocal about her surprise as she shouted and whirled back, only to see Elfnein looking as surprised as they are, a breakfast tray with cereal in her hands.

"Damn it you scared me!" Chris hissed and Elfnein had the decency at least to look sheepish as the other two settled down.

"Sorry Chris-san." Elfnein apologized, putting down her tray to sit at Chris' right side. "I couldn't help but overhear you."

"Where did you come from anyway? I thought we were the only ones here." Chris grumbled. She didn't even notice the homunculus enter.

"I just arrived a minute ago." Elfnein said. "You were all busy talking."

"Hey! Maybe Elfnein can help us too! You're pretty smart right?" Kirika asked eagerly.

"Um… I guess..?" Elfnein blinked, looking slightly embarrassed yet pleased at the compliment.

"Do you have advice on how we could get Maria and Tsubasa together?" Shirabe asked anxiously.

"But aren't they always together?" Elfnein asked with a bit of confusion, unknowingly mirroring Chris' earlier statement.

"We meant that they become lovers." Shirabe pointed out calmly.

"So romantically?" Elfnein asked slowly.

"Yes. Exactly that." Shirabe nodded, glad that they were on the same page.

"We even have a name for our plan to get Maria and Tsubasa-san together!" Kirika revealed as she stood up. "It's called: Operation Love Love Idol Connection DESS!" She gave them a 'V' for victory sign while Shirabe clapped politely. Chris just facepalmed while Elfnein clapped hesitantly, not really knowing what else to do.

"The both of you are now officially part of this Operation." Kirika nodded solemnly as she settled back down again. "We need your inputs!"

"I-I'll try my best…" Elfnein looked a little nervous but at least she was a little more enthusiastic than Chris who had to be cajoled into joining.

"What kind of a name is that anyway? Operation Love Love Idol Connection? That sounds like something out of a really cheesy and outlandish romance show." Chris snorted, trying to hide her embarrassment at such a straightforward and ludicrous name.

"But it's cool! And easy to understand! Right, Shirabe?" Kirika pouted as she looked at her partner who nodded vigorously. Knowing that she really can never win against these two, she just sighed and let it go.

"We need plans." Shirabe reminded to put their conversation back on track.

"Isn't there what you call dating?" Elfnein asked as she had a thoughtful look on her face. "I've read from a magazine that Aoi-san lent me that dating is the first step in romantic relationships."

"What kind of magazines have you been reading? And why did she give that to you in the first place?" Chris muttered under her breath as she shook her head in slight disbelief. Elfnein just scratched her cheek sheepishly in response, having heard Chris with no problem.

"Ohhh... Why didn't we think of that?" Kirika frowned as she was astounded at the simple yet very good suggestion.

"Isn't that a little forward?" Shirabe asked a little worriedly.

"Well, when we tried to be subtle about it, things sort of blew up in our faces." Kirika laughed weakly, scratching her cheek ruefully.

"You have a point." Shirabe winced a little as she remembered the horrible memories of yesterday.

"How are you going to make the two of them go on a date anyway? Don't tell me you're just going to march to them and demand them that they go on one this very instant." Chris inquired dryly.

"Of course not! That's not romantic at all!" Kirika sounded rightly offended that Chris would even suggest that they do such a barbaric thing. "But uh, I'm not really sure on what to do either."

"Where and what should they do when they do go on a date?" Shirabe also asked. There were a lot of things they need to think and plan over if they want this to work. The most important was what the two were supposed to do on their date and where. Chris also had a point, how exactly were they going to convince Maria and Tsubasa to go on a date?

"Ah, but can they go out for a date? You've been all asked to standby in the sub, especially Maria-san and Tsubasa-san. I don't think they'll be inclined to go on dates anytime soon." Elfnein reminded worriedly.

Kirika slumped at that, knowing that Elfnein's words were true. Since four of the six Symphogear users went to school, Maria and Tsubasa were required to be on standby so in the event of any attacks, there would always be at least two users that can be deployed.

"Why don't we bring the date here?" Shirabe suggested after a pause.

"Huh? Can we do that?" Kirika asked, not really sure if it was possible.

"Well, if it's just food then you can." Chris shrugged as she realized that Shirabe's suggestion was possible. "Couples go on lunch or dinner dates and stuff like that right?"

"You're a genius Chris-senpai! We can bring them a fancy, candlelit dinner here!" Kirika exclaimed, banging her hands on the table in excitement. It drew the attention of a few other personnel as more people have already started breakfast.

"Shush you." Chris reprimanded immediately and Kirika quickly sat back down, her cheeks pink.

"A dinner's a great idea. Maria really loves good food." Shirabe revealed, lowering her voice a little.

"It better not be too late though." Chris warned as the other three all leaned forward so that they can converse in lower voices. "Senpai doesn't eat past 9pm."

"…She really keeps her body in good shape." Kirika commented in awe, impressed.

"Where should we hold the dinner then? I don't think we can hold it here with everyone else." Even Elfnein was starting to get into all the planning. It had felt strangely exciting for Elfnein to be able to scheme and plot with the others. It gave her a sense of belonging and it made her happy.

"Maybe we can ask the Commander to lend us a spare room." Shirabe suggested and stared at Chris hopefully. Sometimes, it was amazing just how much Shirabe's stare can convey a message quickly and effectively without having her even saying anything.

"Alright already. I'll ask the old man." Chris sighed, knowing that they'll just pester her again if she refuses.

"So what about food?" Kirika then asked eagerlyy. "We can't just serve them cafeteria food."

"Then we'll cook for them." Shirabe said resolutely.

"Us? Cook? Are you nuts?" Chris protested immediately. Now that was something that she really couldn't do. Even though she's been living alone, the only cooking that Chris can do is to boil water and pour it on instant ramen. Her apartment is actually complete with vital cooking utensils but she hasn't even touched them since moving in.

"Shirabe can cook you know!" Kirika immediately defended. "Her specialty is stew!"

"I can cook too." Elfnein piped up.

"You can?" Chris blinked at the much younger looking homunculus as she turned to her.

"I've got knowledge of cooking from Carol's memories." Elfnein explained.

"Is alchemy the same as cooking?" Kirika asked curiously.

"Maybe a little, since they both have recipes and the like." Elfnein answered with a small smile. "Our Papa didn't really know how to cook so it was up to Carol to make meals." Elfnein's smile became just a bit sadder and melancholy. Kirika regretted asking her such a thing and Chris awkwardly cleared her throat.

"So about the food?" Chris pointedly changed the subject.

"We can pick up the ingredients when we come back from school." Shirabe answered with a rush.

"Of course we'll also decorate the room to make it more romantic and stuff." Kirika grinned.

"So how are we getting them to come that date?" Chris asked again, referring to Maria and Tsubasa.

"How about we say that it's a delayed welcome back from us? We didn't have the time before when they came back from London." Kirika suggested brilliantly.

"You know that's not half bad." Chris sounded a little impressed. That was actually a good excuse and guaranteed to work.

"Then Shirabe-san and I will prepare the food." Elfnein said excitedly.

"Chris-senpai and I will help too!" Kirika offered without hesitation.

"Ugh. Fine." Chris grumbled but agreed fairly easily anyway.

"We'd better practice first though. We'll need to make their favorite foods." Shirabe told Elfnein who nodded in understanding. It was a good thing that they were already familiar with Maria and Tsubasa's preferred foods.

Surprisingly enough, Maria was probably the least picky eater out of all of them aside from Hibiki. She'd probably eat anything as long as it tasted good. In particular though, she was fond of good Italian food like pasta. Tsubasa, as one could expect, is partial to Japanese food as she has difficulty with heavy, western diets. She seems to really like curry from what they've observed.

"Yeah, we have to make sure that this time it's perfect!" Kirika bobbed her head, emphasizing her last words.

After that letter debacle, they needed to be a bit more careful with their plans. They can't have the date fail because the food tastes bad. After their last failed attempt, the two vowed to be more careful about their plans so that it doesn't blow up in front of their faces. So they'll play it safe for now by not rushing the date and its preparations.

"Then Operation: Love Love Idol Connection is on! Yeah!" Kirika grinned happily as she pumped her fist in the air.

"Yeah." Shirabe was more subdued but she mimicked her partner all the same.

"Yeah..!" Elfnein showed a bit more enthusiasm, a smile in place as she was eager to help Kirika and Shirabe; and by extension Maria and Tsubasa.

"…Yeah…" Chris was a little unenthusiastic as she barely lifted her arm to copy the other three.

"Ah, everyone else is here." Tsubasa's voice suddenly came from behind the group. Immediately, all four of them jumped slightly in fright. Thankfully however, none of them shrieked like Chris had done earlier. Hoping that the two idols won't notice, they hastily sat up properly as they all feigned innocence and pretended to be busy with their breakfasts.

"Good morning everyone." Maria greeted with a pleasant smile, a tray with a large selection of breakfast food including a ham and cheese omelet, several different kinds of pastries and a cup of coffee in her hands. Tsubasa was beside her with a tray of soup and a few jam pastries.

"Good morning." Shirabe greeted back, her face blank. However, inside Shirabe as very nervous as she fervently hoped that neither of them heard their hushed conversation earlier. Beside her, Kirika nodded vigorously as she stuffed a pancake in her mouth to avoid saying something stupid. Chris and Elfnein were the lucky ones as they could easily hide their faces from the other two since they had their backs to them.

"It's unusual that you're early today, Yukine." Tsubasa noted as she sat on the other side of Chris. Maria promptly sat beside her.

"Yeah well, sometimes it happens." Chris huffed nonchalantly, masking her internal panic with her usual tsun-tsun tendencies.

Thankfully for the four who were scheming, the two idols seemed to be completely oblivious to their strange behavior as they made no comment and just started eating.

"Hey, where's the idiot?" Chris then asked as she realized that Hibiki not there with them when usually she and Miku would pop up around this time during Sundays.

"Tachibana and Kohinata said they'll come down later." Tsubasa answered as she bit on a jam pastry.

"Oh." Chris then shrugged, not all that concerned. They'll come down when they want to then.

"Tsubasa, you've got some jam on your cheek." Chris heard Maria say. Chris regretted when she looked to her left as she saw Maria use her thumb to swipe at the aforementioned jam on Tsubasa's cheek. Tsubasa ducked her head as she blushed shyly and stuttered a thanks while Maria smiled affectionately at her. For some strange reason, seeing that moment triggered a blush on Chris' cheek and she had to bite her tongue to keep herself from screaming 'Do that at home!'.

"Geez, why do they even need to push them together?" Chris scoffed to herself as she polished off the last of her neglected pancake. "They already act lovey-dovey enough as it is." She grumbled.

* * *

Meanwhile…

"Hibiki, stop that! It tickles." Miku giggled a little as Hibiki continued to nuzzle Miku's exposed neck with her nose. The two were still in their shared bed, with Hibiki embracing Miku from behind.

"But you smell so good!" Hibiki laughed as she didn't stop her ministrations. Miku gave another laugh in response, not really trying all that hard to stop her.

"You're so warm, Miku." Hibiki murmured as she tightened her embrace. "I really love cuddling you."

Miku blushed at the bold declaration. "So you like cuddling me better than breakfast?" Miku joked as a few minutes earlier Tsubasa came knocking on their door and asked if they wanted to go to breakfast together. Hibiki was the one to decline the offer, shouting that they'll go later before latching onto Miku like a leech.

"Of course!" Hibiki proclaimed and cuddled even closer, her lips brushing Miku's neck. Miku suppressed a shudder at the feather like touch on her sensitive neck before she wiggled in Hibiki's embrace so that she can face her.

Hibiki grinned lazily at her as Miku placed their foreheads together, their breaths mingling as they stayed that way for just a few more minutes. Hibiki was right, this was a lot better than breakfast.


	4. Dinner Practice

"Chris-senpai!" Kirika called out as she and Shirabe ran to the gates of the school after class. Chris stood near the gates, her bag slung on her shoulder, looking utterly bored as she waited for Kirika and Shirabe to appear.

"What took the two of you so long?" Chris demanded as her two underclassmen arrived in front of her.

"Kiri-chan was the assigned cleaner today." Shirabe explained in a rush, panting a little as the two ran all the way from their classroom.

"I totally forgot. Shirabe had to help me so that we can get here as soon as we could." Kirika scratched her head sheepishly as she explained the reason why they were a little late. Chris just sighed as she started walking.

"Well, come on. We only have an hour to go shopping." Chris then looked back at them briefly, a stern look on her face. Immediately, the two scampered after Chris before they kept pace with her.

Today they were going to buy the ingredients for the dinner they were planning for Maria and Tsubasa. Later, they would start to practice cooking the dishes to be served. Chris accompanied them since they were going to buy a sizeable amount of food in preparation.

"So what are you guys going to cook anyway?" Chris asked as they walked to the supermarket's direction.

"We decided the main dish would be chicken curry pasta." Shirabe answered proudly. Given that Maria liked pasta and Tsubasa liked curry, they combined the two to get the ideal dish to be served at the dinner date. Chris made a face, not really keen on the idea as she personally thought it sounded unappealing.

"I think it sounds great!" Kirika defended as she noticed Chris' reaction. "We even found recipes online so it's totally possible!"

"And we'll make sure it's totally delicious so Maria and Tsubasa are sure to like it!" Shirabe looked fired up as her eyes gleamed. This time, they will not fail again! "We're also going to prepare some salad and ice cream for dessert."

"So you'll also be test tasting Chris-senpai! So we'll know if Tsubasa-san would like it." Kirika then cheerfully informed Chris who groaned.

"That better not kill me." Chris scowled but did not try to get out of it since she knew that was futile. They then finally arrived at their destination. It was the supermarket that Shirabe and Kirika used to frequent before when they were still with the FIS.

"This is the first time we've come here without waiting for discounts." Kirika sounded truly joyful as she practically ran into the store, dragging Shirabe along.

"Hey, stop acting like a little kid!" Chris yelled after them as she hurriedly followed them in. Inside, Kirika looked properly chastised as Shirabe dug on her heels to stop her from running amok.

"Sorry, I got a little excited." Kirika apologized with her patented sheepish smile as Chris arrived at their side. She had already swiped shopping baskets from near the entrance.

"Damn straight." Chris swore as she shoved a basket at Shirabe and Kirika each before taking hold of their free hands with hers.

"So you don't do anything stupid like getting lost." Chris said harshly but she had a blush on her cheeks. Both Kirika and Shirabe 'Aww'-ed internally. Chris maybe brash at times but she always has their best interests at heart.

They garnered a few stares since the three of them moved rather awkwardly around the supermarket as they were holding hands but Chris merely glared murderously at anyone who looked for too long. That easily got the other patrons to mind their own business.

They finished their shopping relatively easily after that. They picked up potatoes, carrots, curry powder and the other ingredients for the curry based sauce and penne for the pasta. Since it was to be a fancy dinner, they made sure to get the highest quality (also expensive) ingredients they could get their hands on. They also bought bread rolls, fresh lettuce and salad dressing for the salad and premium chocolate ice cream. They debated on buying champagne or wine but since Tsubasa was still nineteen, it was illegal for her to drink. Besides, it was illegal for the three of them to buy liquor anyway. They ended up buying grape juice instead.

"I can't believe we can afford this now." Shirabe commented softly as they were at the check-out counter. Even though the two of them were in probation, they still received a monthly stipend like Chris and the others as Symphogear users.

"Yeah, it's really great." Kirika nodded enthusiastically. They could hardly imagine such a life back when they were still with FIS.

"Of course you doofus." Chris snorted as she pressed half of the money needed for the bill on Kirika's hand. "You're all with us now." Her voice softened a bit at the last part. Kirika and Shirabe both tried to protest but Chris gave them both a stern glare so they ended up relenting and paying only half.

With bags in-hand, they left the supermarket triumphantly. On their way back to the S.O.N.G. HQ, they passed by a busy street full of shops and restaurants. Kirika suddenly stopped when they passed by a maid café, one of its waitresses wearing a maid outfit was handing out flyers.

"Kiri-chan?" Shirabe questioned as Kirika was staring at the maid with sparkling eyes.

"Hey, what happened to you?" Chris asked as she poked Kirika on the back of her head.

"I've got an idea!" Kirika then whirled towards the two of them. The sparkle in her eyes could only mean something bad, Chris was sure of it.

"What is it?" Chris asked wearily.

"Maids!" Kirika exclaimed, pointing excitedly at the maid giving out flyers.

"What?" Chris asked, wondering if Kirika hit her head or something.

"Maids!" Kirika insisted.

"You lost me." Chris frowned in confusion. "Try to at least to make some sense."

"Since we're going to treat Maria and Tsubasa-san to a fancy dinner, it wouldn't be complete if there aren't maids to serve the food!" Kirika finally explained excitedly.

"That's what this is about?" Chris sighed exasperatedly as she turned to Shirabe for support. Chris groaned when she saw that instead of exasperation or anything remotely similar to it, Shirabe had a speculative look of interest plain on her face.

"Hey, don't tell me you're agreeing to this kid?" Shirabe only shrugged in response to the groaned query.

"I don't even think that maids serve people during fancy dinners." Chris said as she tried to dissuade Kirika from her idea.

"But they do! You know, in mansions and stuff! Rich people have maids right?" Kirika said eagerly, completely undeterred.

"So tell me where you're going to get maids then." Chris put her free hand on her hip, the other still holding her share of the ingredients they bought.

"Since Shirabe and Elfnein are our chefs, we have to be the maids!" Kirika answered with all cheer.

"Are you kidding me!?" Chris immediately exploded. She was right! Kirika's ideas were bad, especially when it has anything to do with her! "There's no way I'm dressing up as a stupid maid!"

"Oh come on Chris-senpai. We'll both dress up as maids! Maria and Tsubasa-san would be sure to appreciate it." Kirika insisted even as she was at first taken aback by Chris' sudden temper flare.

"There's no way in hell that I'm going to do it!" Chris growled vehemently as she turned her back on the two and started marching forward.

"Ah, wait! Chris-senpai!" Shirabe called as she hurried after Chris. Kirika pouted before following as well. She'll have to find a way to convince Chris of her brilliant plan! Besides, maid uniforms were cute and Kirika had always wanted to try one on.

"Chris-senpai, you would've looked really great in a maid outfit." Kirika said sullenly behind Chris.

"Are you trying to insult me or something?" Chris glowered as she stopped and turned back towards Kirika.

"But it's true though! You're really cute and you can totally pull off wearing a maid outfit." Kirika argued. What she needed to do now was to sweet talk Chris into agreeing. Kirika however was being sincere though when she said that.

Chris blushed brilliantly at the praise. "Sh-Shut up about it already." Chris' voice wavered slightly as she growled. Shirabe immediately realized that whatever Kirika was doing was starting to break Chris' resolve.

"I'm sure Chris-senpai would be adorable. I want to see you wear a maid outfit too." Shirabe said loudly. She wasn't actually lying as she wanted to see both Kirika and Chris wear maid outfits. She can already bet that they would be adorable beyond relief.

"And I'm sure even Tsubasa-san would be happy to see you so cute." Kirika added, glancing at Shirabe with a conspiratorial grin.

Chris just huffed this time, no longer rebutting them with words.

"And you did promise to help us as our ever reliable senpai. Without your help, Kiri-chan's going to have a hard time serving dinner. She's a little clumsy you see." Shirabe said. Kirika pouted at the jab at her but didn't complain since it was true.

When they finally played the senpai card, Chris gave an aggravated sigh of defeat. "I better not look stupid then! And no pictures or I'll murder the two of you." Chris threatened with a full force blush on her cheeks.

"Okay!" Kirika and Shirabe immediately chorused, delighted that they somehow managed to convince Chris to agree to their request.

Chris stalked forward then, muttering under her breath about stupid underclassmen and maid outfits. Behind her, Kirika and Shirabe high-fived each other triumphantly before following after Chris. Mission success!

When the three arrived at the S.O.N.G. HQ, they went straight to the kitchens. Elfnein was already there waiting for them. They had asked to borrow a portion of the kitchens and the cooks were generous enough to let them use two adjacent workstations complete with tabletops, cooking utensils and two stoves each.

"Over here everyone!" Elfnein waved at them as she was already behind the tabletop. The utensils mentioned in the recipe that they had decided on were neatly laid out and there were aprons and chef hats for each of them.

"Wow, Elfnein. You've got everything ready." Kirika said in admiration as she was the first to approach with Shirabe as they placed their school bags to the side and the ingredients they bought on the tabletop. Chris went off to place the ice cream in the large refrigerator before she joined them too. Elfnein smiled at the praise. Not that she would easily admit it but Elfnein was really excited to cook with Shirabe and the others. She hadn't been excited for something so mundane as cooking in a long time. That must be what it means to have friends and get along with them.

"You even got us chef hats." Shirabe said as she admired her poofy chef hat for a moment before she placed it on, her twintails mysteriously intact. Kirika already had hers on, somehow managing to transfer her favorite X-shaped clip to the bottom of it. Chris glanced down disdainfully at hers before she jammed it on top of her head anyway. Elfnein had to flatten her rather fluffy and unruly hair before she can put hers on.

"So how are we going to do this?" Chris asked after they all washed their hands and put on their aprons.

"Kiri-chan and I will work on the curry sauce. Elfnein and Chris-senpai can work on the pasta." Shirabe divided up the tasks, her eyes gleaming with determination. Chris breathed a sigh of relief as what she got was something relatively easy.

With that, the two teams split up. Elfnein was studiously pouring over the recipe with regards to cooking the pasta like it was the recipe for the Philosopher's Stone. As Chris' cooking skills were very limited, she opted to wait for Elfnein to finish.

"…Okay." Elfnein nodded to herself as she finished with her task.

"Well?" Chris asked with a bit of an impatient edge in her voice.

"We first need a big pot and boil water." Elfnein said decisively as she immediately spotted a big pot underneath the tabletop. She took hold of the two handles and heaved as she struggled to set the pot on the nearby stove. Chris immediately caught hold of the pot as Elfnein almost let the thing go.

"Ah, thank you Chris-san." Elfnein said appreciatively as she straightened up. Chris merely grunted as she placed the big pot on the stove. With more careful instructions from Elfnein, the penne pasta was now happily boiling in the pot and the two merely had to wait for it to cook through. Chris did most of the work as Elfnein couldn't really do it properly since she is exactly as tall as the pot on the stove.

It didn't go that smoothly though as Chris had a few outbursts as she was pretty impatient and was showcasing her very limited (read: utterly atrocious) cooking skills. An example would be 'What do you mean we have to wait for the water to boil!? It'll still cook all the same!' and another is 'Why do I have to stir this every few minutes? Can't we just leave it alone?'. Elfnein had to stop Chris from being too impatient and possibly ruining the pasta. Also, Chris was obviously not familiar with any of the kitchen utensils. She even put the lid on the pot upside down.

While Chris waited for the pasta to cook, she looked over the other two to see how they were doing. She was a little surprised to see how serious Kirika and Shirabe looked as they tackled their task. One could practically feel the determination and effort that the two were radiating as they carefully cooked the curry sauce while reading their recipe with feverish fervor.

"I've never seen them work so hard about something that doesn't involve fighting." Chris commented with a small, amused smile. Elfnein glanced over at the other two as she heard Chris' words and she too smiled a little.

"They really do care for Maria-san and even Tsubasa-san a lot." Elfnein commented as well. "This really means a lot to them."

"They show that they care in the strangest of ways." Chris snorted a little. The two were really hell-bent on getting Tsubasa and Maria together. It was a little alarming yet also endearing, not that she'll ever tell them that.

"You know you didn't really have to force yourself to help them if you didn't want to." Chris then said, looking back at Elfnein. She had been a little worried as Elfnein was just unceremoniously dragged into this. Chris didn't really mind helping them even if the two had to beg to get her to help them. It might be different for Elfnein.

"Oh, I don't mind at all." Elfnein answered without any hesitation. "I'm happy to be of assistance to everyone. I get to know more about everyone and I get to make them happy. I've never really experienced things like that before." The smile she wore was sincere and kind.

"I see." Chris replied simply as she understood immediately.

"I would also like to see how this will go. I've never helped two people get together before. It seems very exciting and romantic." Elfnein then added with an eager smile.

"I don't know about romantic though…" Chris trailed off with a light snort. Elfnein laughed a little in response to that.

And so the two pairs continued on with their tasks. Surprisingly enough, nothing exploded or had gone wrong. Chris and Elfnein were the first to be finished as the penne pasta was strained and set aside. The two were glad that they didn't botch up the penne pasta, even with all efforts of Chris to cook it as fast as possible. On the other hand, a nice smell of curry came from the pot that Shirabe was stirring. Kirika was there by her side, practically drooling as she savored the aroma.

"That actually smells good." Chris commented appreciatively as she sniffed the air.

"Shirabe worked really hard for it!" Kirika praised and Shirabe smiled, a small blush on her cheeks.

"We're just about done." Shirabe said as she placed a small amount of the curry on a small dish so that she could taste it. With a satisfied nod, she turned off the stove.

"Wait Shirabe-san!" Elfnein suddenly said as she quickly remembered that there was something she wanted to show them.

"What's wrong, Elfnein?" Shirabe asked, a little startled. Elfnein then shuffled off to the side and returned with a small glass bottle full of clear liquid. Elfnein offered it to Kirika who then took it to examine the contents.

"What's this?" Kirika asked curiously.

"It's a flavor enhancer I created earlier." Elfnein explained.

"Created? You mean from alchemy?" Chris asked dubiously and Elfnein nodded.

"It's guaranteed to make any dish more nutritious and more flavorful. I made it from a variety of ingredients." Elfnein explained enthusiastically with a smile. "I wanted to contribute more for the dinner so I made this."

"Ohh… Sounds interesting." Kirika commented as she curiously opened the bottle to sniff at it. "Doesn't smell like anything though."

"I made it that way deliberately so that it won't overpower the original dish's flavors. It would enhance it instead." Elfnein answered proudly. She seemed to be quite confident of her little invention.

"Okay, I'll pour it in." Shirabe nodded as she took the bottle from Kirika.

"That whole bottle should be enough for the pot of curry you made." Elfnein informed her and Shirabe gave another nod as she emptied the whole thing slowly into the curry before stirring it in for a minute. The penne pasta was then arranged on two plates and the curry sauce poured on top. Shirabe then added a few leaves of coriander to give the curry a splash of color.

"We did it!" Kirika cheered as she impulsively hugged Shirabe out of happiness. It all went off without a hitch, a large improvement from the disaster that is the love letters.

"Chris-senpai, you get first taste." Shirabe smiled as she carefully offered one of the plates to Chris. Elfnein then dutifully handed her a fork.

"It does look good." Chris gave them that at least as she took the offered plate. She then dug in, conscious of the eyes of the others. She couldn't afford to eat ravenously as was her usual since she has her reputation as a good and reliable senpai to protect after all, so Chris daintily speared a penne with her fork. Their stares were intense as Chris finally put it in her mouth and chewed slowly.

The other three watched Chris expectantly. Shirabe had her fingers crossed while Kirika was practically vibrating in excitement as she watched Chris like a hawk. Instead of looking disgusted or happy, Chris looked confused as she swallowed.

"Well?" Shirabe asked anxiously. Chris merely frowned a little before she took several more bites of the pasta, as if she wasn't sure what to say.

"Chris-senpai?" Kirika asked curiously as Chris had not commented yet.

"…It's not bad." Chris said after she swallowed her fourth forkful. She still had that confused frown on her face.

"But..?" Kirika pressed, not really knowing if Chris' statement was bad or not.

"It doesn't actually taste like anything." Chris admitted after a pause.

"What?!" All three of them chorused in shock. Kirika immediately took another fork to taste the other dish. Kirika already consumed half of the dish before she was sure of what she tasted.

"There really is no taste." Kirika murmured in shock as Shirabe grabbed the fork from her and swallowed a forkful. Just like Kirika, Shirabe can hardly believe what she tasted so she polished off the rest of the pasta. No matter how many times Shirabe tasted it, it was still the same.

"Why does it taste so bland? It's like the flavor has totally disappeared. I don't understand…. Just earlier I tasted it and it was fine!" Shirabe looked like she was gonna cry as all of a sudden, her hard work went kaput.

"I… It might be me…" Elfnein said in a small voice as she too tasted the dish from Chris' plate. The other three all looked at Elfnein at that. "I think my flavor enhancer did the opposite of what it was supposed to do." Elfnein admitted. There was utter silence for three seconds before all three of them suddenly bent over in pain.

"Ugh, my stomach." Shirabe groaned as she hugged her stomach. Her stomach suddenly started hurting for no reason.

"The hell… happened…" Chris moaned as she tried to stand properly but the pain wouldn't let her. It felt as though her stomach was being squeezed by some invisible force.

"D-Dess…" Kirika could only manage that as she was brought to her knees, her chef hat falling to the floor.

"Shirabe-san! Kirika-san! Chris-san!" Elfnein yelled in panic. What was happening?! The three of them were fine just a minute ago! And now the three of them were in pain.

"Ahhh! Please help!" Elfnein screamed for help. The other people in the giant kitchen responded immediately as they came running. The three girls who were in pain were immediately brought to the infirmary, with Elfnein who looked like she was on the verge of tears.

* * *

Meanwhile...

Genjuuro went straight to the kitchens, already hungry as a bear. He was so busy today that he wasn't able to eat lunch and he was starving. There was still a bit of time before dinner was going to be served in the dining hall but he can wait no longer. When he entered the kitchens, Genjuuro found it to be empty. He only raised his eyebrows at the empty kitchen, wondering just a little bit why the place was empty when the cooks should be busy with cooking dinner. Since he was way too hungry to care, he thought no more of it as he instead tried to find some food to eat.

"Hmm. Smells like curry." Genjuuro said thoughtfully as he sniffed the air. HIs stomach rumbled mightily at the smell as curry was a favorite dish of his. He followed the scent towards one of the workstations at the corner and he smiled triumphantly when he found a huge pot of curry and beside it was a large pot of pasta. There were remains of a plate of the curry and pasta together.

"Well this is something new." Genjuuro said, intrigued at the experiment. Since no one was there and he was starving, Genjuuro grabbed a plate and fork before helping himself with the curry and pasta.

"Tastes a little bland but not bad." Genjuuro commented in-between bites. It didn't really take long for him to polish off the entire pot. Genjuuro burped in satisfaction, his hunger sated as he washed down his meal with a large glass of water. Barely a minute later, Genjuuro strangely felt better, his earlier tiredness being replaced by energy. He suddenly felt twice as alive, his blood pumping like he was about to enter a good fight.

"I don't know what was in that curry but I feel like a new man!" Genjuuro laughed, punching his fist to his palm. The action let out a gust of wind and a loud smacking noise. Feeling a lot better and feeling like he could stay awake the whole night and beyond, Genjuuro whistled as he went back to the bridge with a spring in his step.


	5. While in the Infirmary

"I'm really sorry!" Elfnein apologized for probably the hundredth time as she stood beside Chris' designated bed, her face full of guilt and remorse.

"It's fine already. Stop apologizing or I'll hit you." Chris threatened as she scowled, a little sick of hearing Elfnein's apologies over and over again. Chris was currently stuck in bed in the infirmary and she cut an intimidating figure even if she was bedridden.

"It only hurt for a bit. We're fine now!" Kirika exclaimed, trying to cheer Elfnein up as she was tucked in the bed beside Chris.

"And it's not like you did it on purpose." Shirabe agreed with the other two as she was on the bed at the right side of Kirika.

Due to Elfnein's flavor enhancer tonic, the three were afflicted by stomach pains and they were rushed to the infirmary immediately. Luckily for them, the pain only lasted for a few minutes and by the time they were examined by the doctor the pain had pretty much vanished. However, Elfnein and the doctor insisted that they stay for now in the infirmary as other complications might arise from their ingestion of the flavor enhancer. They needed to be monitored for at least twenty-four hours, just in case.

"I was so confident in that flavor enhancer. I shouldn't have used it untested." Elfnein said sadly, absolutely mortified and guilty for all the pain she caused the other three. "I ruined your plans." She then turned to Kirika guiltily.

Kirika looked crestfallen as she was reminded of their grand plans of the dinner for Maria and Tsubasa. Ah, this really sucked. They were going to waste a lot of time since they aren't allowed to leave the infirmary yet.

"I'm almost glad for it." Chris muttered as she was unexpectedly saved from wearing a maid outfit, although in return, she was stuck in the infirmary.

"Are we cursed? I think we're cursed." Kirika moaned dramatically as she cradled her head in her hands.

"Our plan hasn't even started yet and we're already in the infirmary." Shirabe lamented as well. Another day of hard work wasted. And their plan was really good this time! Now they wouldn't be able to through with it for at least two more days.

"I'm sorry…" Elfnein mumbled as she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"We don't blame you Elfnein!" Kirika quickly amended as she saw Elfnein's eyes fill with tears. She didn't really blame Elfnein, not when she just wanted to make the dinner a success as much as they did. That's why Elfnein made the flavor enhancer in the first place. None of them just expected that it could be a failure. "It just happened that way and it was more of an accident than anything. " There was no trace of lying on Kirika's open face and Elfnein relaxed slightly as she sniffled a bit.

"So what are you two gonna do? With the three of us here for at least until tomorrow, your precious dinner date isn't gonna happen for a few more days." Chris reminded them, a little concerned frown on her face. Neither Shirabe nor Kirika were able to answer when they were interrupted by the door to the infirmary slid open.

"Ahh! What happened to you guys!?" It was Hibiki that suddenly barged in as she looked quite worried. Right behind her was Miku who wasn't as panicked as the other girl but she had a look of deep concern on her face.

"Chris-chan, are you okay?" Hibiki went straight to Chris' side and immediately latched onto her. "How about Kirika-chan? Shirabe-chan? Are you guys still in pain?" Hibiki looked like she was about to cry as she looked at the other two as well.

"I'm fine, you idiot." Chris growled but she blushed at Hibiki's obvious concern and hug. She tried to push Hibiki away but her grip was really tight and she refused to let go. "Just ate something bad, that's all."

"Food poisoning?!" Hibiki gasped rather dramatically, tightening her grip on Chris. "You're not all dying are you? Did the cafeteria food go bad?! Are we supposed to not eat there anymore?!"

"Hibiki… If the cafeteria food went bad then the both of us should also be in the infirmary." Miku reminded the panicking Hibiki. "Also, Chris probably can't breathe."

"…Oh." Hibiki then deflated before she laughed sheepishly and scratched her head. Finally she loosened her grip on Chris.

"Geez, stop panicking. You look like an idiot, more than usual anyway." Chris rolled her eyes and was finally able to push Hibiki off her and she arranged her lopsided hospital gown. This girl was really prone to overreacting!

"We're fine Hibiki-san. We're not hurting anymore or anything." Shirabe assured in an effort to calm Hibiki down.

"So what happened?" Miku asked in concern.

"We tried cooking earlier." Kirika revealed with an awkward smile. "It didn't really go well." That was a bit of an understatement as they found themselves confined in the infirmary. They were lucky that the pain subsided quickly.

"It was my fault." Elfnein admitted with a small frown.

"But it was an accident. Elfnein did nothing wrong." Shirabe quickly added as she did not want Elfnein to continue blaming herself.

"An accident?" Miku repeated, glancing at Hibiki in worry. Elfnein briefly explained that they made chicken curry pasta and used the flavor enhancer she created.

"…And the flavor enhancer didn't work as expected. It induced stomach cramps in the three of them." Elfnein finished sadly.

"But you're all fine now?" Miku asked in confirmation. It was still a little alarming to have all three of them suddenly confined here in the infirmary after all. Chris, Kirika and Shirabe all nodded in response. Kirika even gave her a double thumbs up to show that they were telling the truth.

"Well, that's great!" Hibiki enthused, looking relieved at the confirmation. "But why were you cooking in the first place?"

"That's-" Shirabe was rudely cut-off when the doors slid open once more to reveal an almost hysterical Maria. She seemed to have quickly rushed here as fast as she could. A few paces behind her was a decidedly calmer yet also worried Tsubasa.

"Kirika! Shirabe! Are you two alright?!" Maria asked worriedly as she went straight to Shirabe's side and suddenly hugged her.

"We're fine Maria." Shirabe assured the older woman, a little flustered as her face was smooshed into Maria's sizeable cleavage. "We're not in pain anymore."

"Are you both sure? No pain? No dizziness? Vomiting?" Maria fired rapidly as she pulled away slightly to examine Shirabe's face as she tried to gauge for herself if Shirabe was lying.

"No…" Shirabe muttered as she patiently let Maria do what she had to do. Maria then turned to Kirika gave her a worried hug as well before she examined Kirika's face as she had done earlier to Shirabe.

"Maria, we're really fine!" Kirika insisted, blushing a little in embarrassment as Maria fussed over her.

"Well, aside from being a little pale, you both look alright…" Maria bit her lip as she looked a little doubtful. She seemed to have calmed down however, as she was obviously relieved that the two were not in any pain.

"You can fuss over Chris-chan too, Maria-san! She gets jealous if you don't pay attention to her too." Hibiki all but snickered. Tsubasa laughed softly at that as well.

"Y-you idiot!" Chris sputtered out as she was suddenly dragged into this too. As if in response to Hibiki's words, Maria approached Chris and checked over her as well.

"I-I'm fine!" Chris's face was a perfect match for the red Ichaival armor as she tried to shoo Maria away to little success. She was even more persistent than Hibiki! "Senpai..!" Chris turned to Tsubasa for help.

"Just bear with it for a while, Yukine." Tsubasa encouraged as she too was worried about how Chris was doing and so she let Maria do whatever she needed to do. Chris could only groan in defeat as the two older girls ganged up on her and she scowled while waiting for Maria to finish with her 'check-up'.

"I can breathe a little easier knowing that the three of you are at least not in any pain." Maria sighed as she stepped away from Chris, having confirmed that the other girl was also alright. "But you know, maybe you all need to transfer to the hospital and be checked over again?" Maria suggested as she was starting to sound rather paranoid.

"Maria, you shouldn't fuss over them so much." The light admonishment came from Tsubasa even as she smiled slightly in amusement. She then gently took Maria's elbow to distance her from the other three. "They did say they're fine."

"Geez. Meddling mom." Chris grumbled sullenly as she crossed her arms.

"I thought the worst when I heard the three of you were brought to the infirmary." Maria frowned in concern as she too crossed her arms. "I couldn't help but be worried."

"You exaggerate. It was only a little stomachache." Chris snorted as she waved away Maria's concern although she looked just a little bit glad for Maria's obvious worry over them.

"They'll need to be monitored for a day though." Elfnein said as she approached Maria. "Just to make sure that the flavor enhancer they ingested has no lasting effects."

"Flavor enhancer?" Tsubasa repeated questioningly as both she and Maria faced Elfnein.

Both Kirika and Shirabe panicked at that as they frantically shook their heads through the gaps between Maria and Tsubasa, hoping that Elfnein would be able to see them. Hibiki and Miku however saw their reactions and wondered why.

"Uhm… We tried to cook earlier since I created a flavor enhancer." Elfnein thankfully got Shirabe and Kirika's message as she omitted a few details and changed the reason why they cooked in the first place. "It was a failure and it induced stomach cramps after they ate the food." Audible sighs of relief could be heard from both Kirika and Shirabe at Elfnein's abridged version of the events.

"I'm really sorry." Elfnein then bowed to Maria in apology.

"It's alright. I'm sure you didn't mean it." Maria said as she patted Elfnein on the head.

"As you said, as long as they rest they'll be fine." Tsubasa also said and smiled.

"You heard that right Yukine? You're going to have to stay put for a while." Tsubasa grinned as she turned to Chris. She knew that sometimes Chris just can't stay put as she approached Chris to pat her head briefly.

"I'm not a little kid, senpai." Chris huffed as she looked properly insulted at Tsubasa's insinuation. She wasn't like Hibiki for heaven's sake. "I know that." She then turned her nose up snootily. It only made Tsubasa smile a little.

"Have the three of you eaten properly? Wait, can the three of you even eat?" Maria asked, looking very much like an overbearing and overprotective mother. It seemed like she wasn't ready to give up fussing over the three bedridden girls.

"It's probably best if they drink a lot of liquids. Soup would be ideal for them." Elfnein responded to the query.

"Alright then wait here. I'll make some soup for them." Maria nodded to Elfnein's words and grabbed Tsubasa's arm without warning and dragged her quite easily to the door.

"I don't know how to cook Maria!" Tsubasa protested, her cheeks slashed with red at the sudden movement.

"I know that! You can help me carry it at least." Maria insisted and she did not let Tsubasa get away as the door slid shut behind them.

"Whew! That was close! We almost got found out." Kirika sighed as she sagged in relief. "Good job, Elfnein!" She then gave a thumbs up again. Elfnein didn't seem to be familiar with the gesture as she just mirrored Kirika, confusion plain on her face.

"Why? What do you mean you almost got found out?" Miku inquired, intrigued.

"We didn't want them to find out why we were cooking in the first place." Shirabe explained with a single nod.

"Really? Why?" Hibiki asked curiously.

"Fufufu…" Kirika gave an evil laugh before she gave Hibiki and Miku the 'V' for victory sign even as she was still confined to her bed. "It's because of Operation Love Love Idol Connection DESS!" On cue, Shirabe clapped demurely. Elfnein clapped as well and Hibiki had a look of absolute fascination on her face as she too clapped enthusiastically. Miku hesitantly followed their lead while Chris facepalmed again.

"Oooohhh! What is it? What is it?" Hibiki asked eagerly as her eyes sparkled.

"It's a plan to bring Maria and Tsubasa-san together!" Kirika said proudly as all eyes were on her.

"Huh? But aren't they just together earlier?" Hibiki asked naively. It was starting to become weird as both Chris and Elfnein reacted that way as well before.

"Not like that Hibiki-san, but as lovers." Shirabe explained patiently for the third time on her count.

"Huh? But aren't they..?" This time, it was Miku that looked confused. Everyone looked at her curiously after that outburst. Seeing the blank, curious faces on their faces Miku just sighed and shook her head. "Never mind then."

"That sounds cool! Can I join?" Hibiki immediately offered. She was awfully enthusiastic and it surprised the others a little while Miku just sighed knowingly.

"Of course!" Kirika nodded, surprised yet glad that Hibiki was all for it.

"Yes! You know, it's so cute when Maria-san and Tsubasa-san are together. Tsubasa-san smiles a lot more often now. I'm so happy she found a partner like Maria-san." Hibiki enthusiastically blabbered on. She had always been a real huge Zwei Wing fan, ever since she was saved by Kanade.

"And did you see how they sing together? I haven't seen anyone have such great chemistry with Tsubasa-san since Kanade-san." Hibiki continued, a large grin on her face.

"…Comrade." Shirabe cracked a pleased smile at seeing Hibiki so enthusiastic.

"Hibiki-san is a true comrade-in-arms of ours." Kirika said, looking like she was about to cry from happiness.

"And Miku agrees with me! Right Miku? You'll join us too, right?" Hibiki looked like an eager puppy wagging its tail as she looked at her best friend.

"Well, I suppose so…" Miku trailed off as it was obvious she couldn't really resist Hibiki anyways.

"Yay! So that's the six of us!" Kirika cheered, a lot happier now that their legion grew.

"So what've you been doing to get them together?" Hibiki interrogated eagerly. "Have they been on a date yet?"

"Well, we've been trying…" Shirabe sighed a little, remembering those horrid letters again and now their latest fail with the dinner. "We were supposed to setup a nice, romantic dinner for them but we found ourselves here…"

"Ah! So the chicken curry pasta you were making was for their dinner?" Miku realized as their discussion earlier took a bit of a detour.

"Yeah." Shirabe glumly nodded.

"And it was going so well! Chris-senpai and I are even going to be maids to serve the dinner!" Kirika lamented.

"Wait, wait, wait! Chris-chan is going to be a MAID?!" Hibiki instantly reacted, practically yelling her last word.

"Y-you idiot! Why did you even tell her that?!" Chris looked utterly furious and she looked like she was about to jump up from bed and strangle Kirika. However, Elfnein was a bit more fearless than they give her credit for as she actually pushed Chris down with a firm hand on her chest.

"No Chris-san! You're not allowed to strain yourself!" Elfnein scolded. Chris scowled deeply in response but she didn't struggle. She could most likely easily overpower the smaller Elfnein but the shock of someone pushing her down managed to alleviate some of her anger.

"Hibiki…" Miku said with a touch of warning. "Don't tease Chris when she's sick."

"I was just surprised! I wasn't even teasing her." Hibiki pouted a little as she defended herself.

"A-anyways since we're stuck here for a little longer our plans are delayed." Kirika rushed out as an effort to change the subject from maids lest Chris becomes angry again. Chris can be really scary when she's pissed off!

"Aww, that's too bad. Tsubasa-san for sure would've been happy. Miku and I took her out on a date before. It was so fun! We went to a movie, and went clothes shopping, we played at the arcade, and we even went out to karaoke!" Hibiki cheerfully recalled. That little anecdote netted Hibiki blank stares of disbelief and utter silence.

"What?" Hibiki asked, confused at the silence.

"…I-is that what you call a love triangle?" Elfnein asked, her eyes a little wide.

"…I thought you were our comrade Hibiki-san." Shirabe looked disappointed.

"This is a betrayal! A betrayal!" Kirika exclaimed dramatically as she clutched her chest as if in pain.

"No! Not like that!" It was Miku that reacted rather heatedly as she looked rightly offended at their accusations. "It was a date as friends!" Miku insisted, a small blush on her pale cheeks.

"I… I knew that!" Chris spoke up, crossing her arms as she blushed, having thought the same thing as the other three.

"Eh? Eh? We asked her on that date because Tsubasa-san finally warmed up to me and she had just recovered from her injury and she was stuck in the hospital for a long time! We wanted to do something nice for her you know." Hibiki explained more fully as she unintentionally alluded to a not so pleasant event in the past.

"Hey, hey." Chris said as she was uncomfortably reminded of that time as she immediately realized what injury Hibiki was talking about. "We get it already. You don't have to go and explain."

"Oh, so you two weren't courting her?" Kirika asked as in an unusual moment of realization, she sensed that it would be best not to inquire more about the said event that led to Tsubasa's injury. Maybe she'll ask Maria if she knew about that.

"Of course not." Miku immediately answered while Hibiki laughed a little as her words were taken too far into context.

"Yeah but anyway, Tsubasa-san likes movies, shopping, the arcade and karaoke." Hibiki surmised. "I just thought it might help with trying to set her up with Maria-san."

"I'm kinda surprised that she's a very typical girl." Shirabe commented. "I expected her to be a bit more… traditional." As the most Japanese person that they knew, she expected Tsubasa to like Kabuki theater, enka concerts and other stuff like that.

"Ahaha, well… Tsubasa-san didn't have much cause for going out and stuff. So I think she'd be just happy to go out and have fun." Hibiki laughed a little sheepishly.

"I think Maria would like that too. There wasn't much occasion for her to go out and have fun either." Kirika said softly as she realized the implications of Hibiki's statement.

"Well… Maybe we could have them go out after all." Chris said as a way to keep the conversation from getting a little too heavy.

"Yeah, Chris-chan is right! We can have them go to a romantic movie. It'll only be two hours. I'm sure Master will permit it!" Hibiki perked up as she realized what Chris was trying to do. That was all in the past anyway! What they need to do now is to have Maria and Tsubasa enjoy their date! When you're talking about dates, a definite winner is romance movies!

"And then right after we'll have the dinner ready here!" Kirika exclaimed as she picked up steam.

"But maybe we'll just request the cooks for food…" Shirabe said, not willing to find out if the food would be botched up again. It still depressed her a bit to think of her hard work in cooking go down the drain.

"We'll just make up for it with the atmosphere!" Kirika agreed as she nodded in determination. With their sad luck, it would be best if they have little to do with the cooking. They'll just have to request help from the staff here. "With Chris-senpai and I as maids, they're going to get the most romantic time of their lives!"

"I still don't know how having maids would even make it more romantic." Chris grumbled but thankfully did complain anymore.

"And to make sure that the date goes right, we'll go with them!" Hibiki announced with all cheerfulness.

"They're just going to watch a movie! Why do we even need to be there too?" Chris asked in exasperation as she looked at the others for some kind of support. Chris didn't know why she expected anything when she saw that Kirika and Shirabe both looked very interested with what Hibiki said. Thankfully though, Miku and Elfnein looked hesitant.

"They don't have to know we're there. We'll just be watching over them from somewhere far away." Hibiki insisted.

"Hibiki, that's what you would call spying on them…" Miku reminded with a hint of disapproval in her voice.

"But isn't that the easiest way to know if the date is a success?" Hibiki asked innocently.

"Hibiki-san is right. That sounds like a good idea." Shirabe agreed as she nodded. It's just to observe them and make sure everything is going right. Shirabe wasn't going to spy on them just because she wanted to squeal over the two of them being together or anything.

"Aren't dates supposed to be private affairs?" Elfnein pointed out with a hint of confusion on her face. Isn't it bad to spy on people's privacy?

"Hmm… Shirabe and Hibiki-san have a point though. We'll be able to see if something goes wrong, or right, as soon as possible!" It didn't really take much for Kirika to concede to both Shirabe and Hibiki. Besides, she was extremely curious about what would happen if Maria and Tsubasa go on a romantic date. She'd want to watch that definitely!

"Do we really have to remind you guys that spying on people is bad? Don't you guys have any shame?" Chris asked exasperatedly but Hibiki, Kirika and Shirabe look totally undeterred. Chris groaned loudly as she put a hand on her head. She's starting to get a headache from these three!

"Okay then! So we vote! Hands up for those who want to spy- I mean, who wants to guard over Maria and Tsubasa-san?" Kirika took charge as this would be the best way to settle it. Kirika of course raised both her hands high up while Shirabe and Hibiki raised theirs as well.

"Well, it looks like we're tied." Chris pointed out, obviously ignoring Kirika's other raised hand as she, Elfnein and Miku didn't raise theirs.

"Aww, come on Miku! It'll be fun!" Hibiki pouted as she pleaded with Miku. "You want to see them on a date too, right?"

"They might get angry if we get found out." Miku cautioned. Even though Miku herself was curious about Maria and Tsubasa's date, it was still rude to spy on them and she wasn't particularly keen to find out what would happen if they were discovered to be spying on the two idols.

"They wouldn't even know we're there!" Kirika seemed very determined as she whipped out her super spy glasses. Shirabe already had hers on when everyone looked at her.

"…What's that supposed to be?" Chris asked flatly.

"They're our beautiful super spy glasses! When we wear it, no one would notice us and we can't be stopped!" Kirika answered confidently.

"It was what allowed us to infiltrate your school before." Shirabe said in all seriousness.

"And what do you know, we have one for everyone!" Kirika said cheerfully as she seemed to whip out a box out of nowhere with four super spy glasses in different colors; yellow, orange, red and purple.

"Whoa, you're prepared." Hibiki looked quite impressed as she took the orange one and put them on. She then took the purple one and placed them on Miku. "It suits you Miku!"

"Ah… Thanks… You look good too." Miku blushed a little at the praise as she smiled shyly.

"Are you kidding me? It's not like those things could actually do anything!" Chris crossed her arms.

"Amazing. I didn't know that glasses could be useful like this." Elfnein looked utterly fascinated as she took the yellow glasses to put them on. She then turned to Chris with an innocent and excited smile.

"Chris-san, how do I look?" She asked eagerly.

"Huh? Uh… You look smart and nice." Chris' annoyance deflated rather easily at the earnest question and at the adorable look on Elfnein's face.

"You should try them on too! I think they'll really suit you." Elfnein took the red glasses and offered it to Chris with an all-too honest smile. Chris predictably went red at the preemptive praise and allowed Elfnein to put the glasses on her.

"Well?" Chris asked rather impatiently. Miku had to elbow Hibiki not-so-gently on the stomach to prevent her from laughing out loud and to further embarrass Chris.

"It really suits you Chris-san!" Elfnein exclaimed honestly. Kirika, Shirabe, Hibiki and Miku all gave vigorous nods of agreement.

"W-well, I guess these aren't too bad then." Chris changed her tune rather easily. There were muffled snickers from Hibiki and Kirika from the display. It was really cute and also funny whenever Chris changed gears this fast.

"Then if we use these then we can spy on Maria-san and Tsubasa-san right? Then I vote that we should!" Elfnein seemed terribly excited on the prospect now that she had her super spy glasses on.

"What?!" Chris seemed to remember what they were talking about. That was dirty pool! These damned glasses distracted her from their earlier discussion.

"And with Elfnein's vote, it's four against two! We win!" Kirika exclaimed triumphantly.

"Ugh. Do whatever you want. Don't say we didn't warn you." Chris threw up her arms in defeat. That had been the perfect ploy! Chris had let her guard down and now she's being dragged once more into trouble.

"Can all of you even go out at the same time? Aren't you all on standby?" Miku asked, ever the voice of reason.

"We'll only be gone for at most three hours. Chris-chan and I will go and beg if we have to!" Hibiki looked very determined as she said that. Chris gave another long-suffering sigh as she heard her name being mentioned again to do something she wasn't really all enthusiastic in doing.

"And we've been stuck on the sub for weeks now! They've got to at least give us this break." Kirika pointed out. Although she did understand why they had to be on standby as much as possible, it was still kinda boring being stuck here all the time.

"Well, alright…" Miku finally conceded and Hibiki whooped before she hugged Miku tightly in joy.

With that, they all agreed to arrange the date for Saturday so that they have the remaining days of the week to prepare. They have the day off from school then too so they can spy on the date with no problems.

"Let's do this again! Operation Love Love Idol Connection Start! Yeahhh!" Kirika pumped up her fist enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" Hibiki was the loudest as she cheered with her fist raised up high.

"Yeah." Shirabe, Elfnein and Miku weren't as enthusiastic but they raised their fists in solidarity.

"Why me?" Chris lamented as she reluctantly raised her fist as Kirika and Hibiki pointedly looked at her.

When the doors slid open again, everyone reacted quickly as they all hid their respective spy glasses. Maria and Tsubasa entered with trays.

"Sorry for the wait." Maria smiled as her tray had two bowls of soup on it.

"We also got something for you, Elfnein." Tsubasa said as her tray had a bowl of soup and a sandwich. Tsubasa then handed her the wrapped sandwich.

"Ah, thank you Tsubasa-san." Elfnein said gratefully as she accepted the sandwich.

"Do the two of you need help? I can feed you if you want." Maria said anxiously as she took the other tray that was below the one she was using, and gave a tray and a bowl of soup to Kirika and Shirabe each.

"We can eat on our own Maria!" Kirika insisted as a large blush lit up on her face at the offer. Maria keeps forgetting that she isn't a kid anymore!

"Yukine too. If you need help just ask." Tsubasa said seriously as she hovered almost protectively over Chris.

"Geez, I didn't become an invalid! Stop fussing over me so much!" Chris complained but there was that huge blush on her face as she snatched the spoon from Tsubasa's hand. She dipped it into her soup and took a huge spoonful before stuffing it into her mouth to prove her point.

"Oww!" Chris winced as the soup was still hot and it scalded her tongue.

"At least blow on it first." Tsubasa sounded amused while Chris huffed and glared at her. Tears had welled up in her eyes at the pain and Tsubasa promptly presented to her a glass of cold water.

"Thanks." Chris mumbled grudgingly.

"Ah, Shirabe! Be careful!" Maria reprimanded as she steadied the tray that Shirabe had on her lap as the bowl almost spilled its contents.

"S-sorry…" Shirabe mumbled in apology as she shifted to better balance the tray and the bowl.

"Kirika, don't eat so fast!" Maria then turned sternly to Kirika who was practically inhaling her soup and making a mess of it. Maria took a napkin before forcefully wiping away the traces of soup on Kirika's chin and cheeks. Kirika tried to struggle but it was futile as Maria glared at her sternly. Kirika had no choice but to obey and be still.

"Here." Tsubasa offered a napkin automatically as soon as she saw that Elfnein had finished eating.

"Thank you, Tsubasa-san!" Elfnein said gratefully as she took the offered napkin and wiped her mouth with it daintily.

"And you too." Tsubasa said as she gave another napkin to Chris who mumbled an incoherent thank you.

"Looking at them like this, it really looks like Maria-san is the mom and Tsubasa-san is the dad." Miku commented to Hibiki with a soft giggle as they watched the others.

"Yeah, we'd be like a real family." Hibiki laughed as she liked the idea very much. "Maria-san is the mama, Tsubasa-san is the papa."

"Chris-chan would be the eldest daughter." Miku supplied.

"I'll be the second daughter!" Hibiki exclaimed. "And Miku will be my wife." She then grinned happily. Miku blushed but giggled as well.

"Shirabe and Kirika would be… Maria's little sisters?" Hibiki pondered as she tried to assign a role to everybody.

"But Maria-san already has a little sister." Miku reminded.

"Oh right…" Hibiki scratched her cheek ruefully.

"They could be… Maria-san's daughters in a previous marriage?" Miku suggested and Hibiki was unable to suppress her surprised laughter at that. That was actually oddly fitting.

"They'll just be our little sisters then." Hibiki pointed out as her laughter subsided.

"How about a pet?" Miku then asked as she seemed to enjoy imagining the scenario of a family with everyone.

"How about Elfnein-chan? She'll be our puppy." Hibiki suggested with chuckle and Miku laughed softly along with her.

"That sounds really cute and fun." Hibiki grinned lopsidedly as she turned back to watch her 'family' once more.


	6. Movie Date

Today was finally the promised day. Kirika stood tall and proud as she surveyed her comrades. They have been through so much. They have struggled and fought; and there were times when she thought that they would fall but they have persevered. This was it, today is finally the day of the movie and dinner date!

"We have finally done it." Kirika began dramatically as she paced in front of Shirabe and the others. They were in Kirika and Shirabe's shared room and Shirabe, Chris, Hibiki, Miku and Elfnein sat on the makeshift bed. "I had thought it would be an insurmountable task but I have been proven wrong!" Kirika glanced at her phone as she made sure she had the right meaning for 'insurmountable'.

"And it's all thanks to everyone here that we are prepared for our final battle!" Kirika exclaimed as she emphatically nodded her head to each one of them. Kirika took a moment or two to remember what they've been through these past few days.

After that incident with Elfnein's flavor enhancer, preparations for the movie and dinner date for this Saturday began in earnest. Even while confined in the infirmary, Kirika had earnestly studied the veritable ways of being a maid by watching as many anime as she could about maids, as recommended by Itaba.

Hibiki and Miku brought the materials needed to transform the room that they had borrowed into a romantic date spot. A nice tablecloth, fancy cutlery and plates that they borrowed from Aoi-san's collection (They had promised that they'll replace them if they somehow wouldn't survive the dinner), enough candles to burn the sub and lots of colorful paper that Chris and Shirabe made into pretty paper flowers. Miku and Elfnein were then the ones to decorate the room itself while the others worked to distract Maria and Tsubasa from finding out.

There was also the dreaded fitting from hell as Kirika dubbed it. When it was time to buy the maid uniforms, Chris had to be dragged in the store, kicking and screaming. It was made even worse when Hibiki teased Chris when they finally managed to fit her into a maid outfit. Hibiki did not escape unscathed, nor did the outfit, even with the combined efforts of Miku and Shirabe to calm Chris down. Hibiki probably still had that bump on her head somewhere. To calm both Chris and the proprietor of the shop, everyone else bought a maid outfit by the logic that Chris won't feel as embarrassed if everyone else wore one and that they wouldn't get kicked out by the proprietor by giving her more business. It was a good thing that Symphogear user stipends were very generous so that they were able to afford all six maid outfits plus that one outfit that Chris ruined.

Maid classes followed right after, led by Kirika. Since everyone had maid outfits, it would be a waste if they didn't use it so from the original plan, all six of them would now act as servers at the dinner. It took hours of cajoling, a few bruises, threats, lots of cheek pulling just to get some people to smile and endless choruses of 'Welcome home, Goshuujin-sama!' which turned to 'Welcome home, Ojou-sama!' as they were reminded that both Maria and Tsubasa were girls before Kirika declared that they were ready. They could all at least smile(no matter how forced) and balance things on the serving tray now. They also had to learn the elusive rules of western dining etiquette, especially with how they were going to arrange the plates and the cutlery on the table. Each of them had a printed copy of a detailed guide on the subject.

Next was the challenge of the movie that Maria and Tsubasa would watch, and that all-important job landed on Hibiki's shoulders. Hibiki chose a movie entitled 'Flight of Love'. The movie poster depicted a couple holding hands in the backdrop of a row of trees. Just from the title alone and the poster, Hibiki deemed it to be romantic enough for their needs and so bought the tickets. She didn't bother with reading the summary however, as she wanted to avoid spoilers since she'd be watching it anyway. With a well-thought excuse courtesy of Miku and Hibiki's insistence, Maria and Tsubasa were given the tickets and they agreed to watch it.

Chris and Hibiki also had to plead a day off for all the Symphogear users and Elfnein for the plan to even take place. Surprisingly enough, Genjuuro agreed to it, as long as they all kept their communicators with them and be ready to respond to emergencies. That was pretty much what they've been doing lately anyway so they all readily agreed. They just have to hope that there would be no emergencies this day.

"And as we now face our greatest battle; I wish godspeed to all of us!" Shirabe, Hibiki and Elfnein clapped at Kirika's last words while a soft snort came from Chris.

"Enough with the dramatic speech already." Chris said tetchily as she waved her hand dismissively. Not that Chris'll ever admit it but she was a little anxious over this whole thing.

"Aww, come on Chris-senpai. You're such a spoilsport. I thought real hard on my speech." Kirika pouted as she waved her phone around. She even researched on the internet for it!

"I think it was wonderful Kiri-chan." Shirabe earnestly spoke up, ever serious.

"Thank you Shirabe!" Kirika's eyes glittered with gratitude as the two exchanged fond looks.

"Are you two just going to make goo-goo eyes at each other? I thought that we were about to leave for the theater!" Chris reminded exasperatedly as she crossed her arms and looked away from the two with a slight blush on her cheeks. Kirika and Shirabe at least had the grace to look sheepish as they both blushed a little at the accusation.

"Yeah! We need to be there early or we'll miss them!" Hibiki exclaimed as she bounced in her seat in excitement. Miku had to place a hand on Hibiki's thigh to stop her from shaking the bed with her enthusiasm.

"We've still got time though. It's still more than an hour and a half before the movie even starts." Miku pointed out as she tried to keep both Hibiki and Chris calm.

"Good luck everyone! I'll be supporting you all from here!" Elfnein exclaimed as she sounded quite fired up. Unfortunately for Elfnein, even if she were to wear her super spyglasses, there was no way that she can accompany them to the theater. The movie that Hibiki had chosen was strictly rated R-13. As Elfnein hardly looked like she was even past ten years old, there was no way that she can go and watch. Instead, Elfnein would stay in here and provide backup with the use of the terminal in the bridge. Elfnein would also make sure that all of the dinner preparations would go smoothly as the others would be busy spying on the idols in the theater.

"Yeah, we're counting on you Elfnein." Shirabe said warmly.

"Leave it to me!" Elfnein nodded with a smile.

"Okay, everyone! Spyglasses on!" Kirika ordered as she put on her spyglasses. Everyone else obeyed and put on their respective spyglasses. Even Elfnein put hers on as a show of solidarity.

"Operation Love Love Idol Connection start!"

* * *

The five of them arrived at the theater a good hour before the movie's start. They all decided to stay in a café that was across the street from the theatre as it was a good vantage point that allowed them to easily see the theater entrance. They sat outdoors and they hogged two tables so that all five of them were facing the theater. As soon as they settled down, Shirabe had resolutely stared at the entrance even though it would be some time before Maria and Tsubasa would appear.

"Shirabe-chan… You don't have to keep watch yet." Miku deigned to comment as a few passersby have been scared off by Shirabe's impressive stare. Shirabe blinked in response before she looked at Miku with a small blush.

"I just… wanted to be sure." Shirabe muttered, a little embarrassed.

"Just chill for a bit. Elfnein hasn't even called us yet." Chris said as she waved at a waiter to order. She would need a strong cup of coffee (or two) if she wants to get through this afternoon with her sanity intact.

"Let's order a parfait Shirabe!" Kirika was sufficiently distracted from being anxious by the nice selection of parfaits in the café as she was looking at a menu.

"Let's buy one too Miku! This looks really tasty!" Hibiki was pretty much drooling as she too was looking at a menu.

Shirabe and Miku glanced at each other before they smiled in a sudden mutual understanding. They then turned to their respective partners with fond smiles.

"Okay Kiri-chan." Shirabe nodded as she came closer and Kirika looked absolutely delighted and started blabbing about how delicious looking the chocolate and cookie parfait looked. Kirika even cheered a little when Shirabe ordered the thing.

"Let's try this one then." Miku pointed at a strawberry and peach parfait as she shuffled closer to Hibiki. Hibiki gave an enthusiastic nod as she almost hit the waiter on the face as she was waving her arms about to get noticed.

Chris grumbled under her breath as all of a sudden, this little stakeout turned into an impromptu date for the two couples near her. When her coffee arrived, she took a huge swig of it, almost burning her tongue again. Well, at least they were happy. Although she sorely wished that Elfnein or someone else was here, so at least she'll have someone else to talk to. Chris tried her best not to look at the others. She just had to sit in the middle of these two pairs of lovebirds and now she can't leave. She could only sigh loudly and opted to just stare straight ahead.

"This tastes really delicious." Kirika hummed in happiness as she took a bite of the parfait they ordered. She then took another spoonful before offering it to Shirabe. "Here Shirabe!"

"Thanks." Shirabe smiled affectionately before she took the spoon into her mouth. Shirabe then nodded in approval as she took the spoon and took some more ice cream. "Say 'Ah' Kiri-chan." And thus, the two of them took turns in eating the parfait using only one spoon.

"Hibiki, you're getting ice cream on your cheek." Miku said, her tone both exasperated and fond. She then took a napkin and wiped away the erring cream from Hibiki's cheek.

"Thanks Miku! Here, it's your turn!" Hibiki grinned as she offered a spoonful of ice cream to Miku who partook gladly.

It was taking all of Chris' self-restraint not to throw a fit as she had no escape from these lovey-dovey idiots. Her face was steadily turning red, and she was praying for someone to save her from this. Luckily for her, the communicator finally rang.

"Chris-san, can you hear me?" Elfnein's voice crackled to life from the communicator.

"Finally!" Chris barked even as her face showed intense relief when the others stopped their antics to listen in.

"Oh, I'm sorry for taking so long." Elfnein sounded genuinely remorseful even though she didn't really do anything wrong.

"Oh… I mean… Yeah. So did they leave yet?" Chris coughed as she knew that her outburst was unwarranted and she changed the subject as fast as she could.

"Yes, they just left on Tsubasa-san's motorcycle. With its usual speed, they would arrive at your position in ten minutes." Elfnein reported.

"Ten minutes?! Then we gotta hurry!" Hibiki exclaimed as she started shoveling the remains of their parfait into her mouth. Miku just shook her head in amusement.

"Thanks Elfnein! We'll call again later when we see them." Kirika said as she and Shirabe started hurrying to finish their parfait. Chris waved the waiter for the bill and paid for their food. Meanwhile, the two parfaits were already gone and the other four were now on high alert as they watched the theater entrance and the surrounding areas.

"…My eyes are starting to hurt." Kirika complained ten minutes later as she hardly blinked the whole time she was staring at the theater entrance.

"Just a little more Kiri-chan." Shirabe encouraged.

"Maybe I should've brought binoculars. Wouldn't it make spying on them easier?" Hibiki speculated as she adjusted her spyglasses.

"Yeah, and then they can spot you from a mile away. You'd just look stupid." Chris shot down that idea fast as she pretended to not be paying attention when in fact her eyes darted around the area, as alert as any of them.

Then, there was the unmistakable sound of a motorcycle approaching. All five of them jolted at that. "It's the sound senpai's motorcycle!" Chris exclaimed at once, recognizing the sound immediately. Right on cue, a motorcycle appeared further down the road. It was no doubt Tsubasa's blue motorcycle and riding on it were two people. It was hard to miss the fluttering long blue and pink hair from the riders.

"They're here!" Kirika squealed into the communicator she snatched from Chris.

"Copy that!" Elfnein responded immediately.

"We'll call you later after the movie's finished, Elfnein." Shirabe said in farewell.

"Okay, good luck everyone!" Elfnein's voice was then cut off as the communicator became silent.

They watched earnestly as Tsubasa parked her motorcycle at an empty spot in front of the theater. Maria was the first to dismount before being followed by Tsubasa. They each removed their respective helmets while conversing. For once, Maria and Tsubasa's usual hairstyles were absent. Instead, both sported identical low ponytails. They were also wearing a pair of sunglasses each.

"…That's their best disguise?" Chris asked with just a touch of disbelief. It wasn't all that much better than their spyglass disguises!

"If I didn't know it was them, I wouldn't be able to notice!" Kirika commented as she seemed to approve of the idols' 'disguises'.

"I get it now… They must've gotten it from her." Chris sighed in realization as she looked at Maria and at Kirika and Shirabe. As if she sensed their eyes on her, Tsubasa seemed to glance at their direction.

"Hide!" Hibiki squealed in panic. The menus that they carelessly left on the table were snatched quickly and they all hid behind them. Hibiki and Kirika's menus were obviously upside down though. A few tense moments later, Miku slightly lowered her menu to peek back at Maria and Tsubasa. Tsubasa seemed to have turned her back to them again and it looked like she didn't notice them.

"Did they see us?" Kirika asked frantically as she huddled behind her menu.

"I don't think so. They're about to enter the theater." Miku reported. In response to her words, the others' menus were cautiously lowered as they peeked over them to see for themselves.

"They're HOLDING HANDS." Kirika gasped, like she couldn't believe it. True to her word, Tsubasa had offered her hand and Maria took it. They held hands as they walked to the main entrance of the theater.

"Don't make it sound like it's a big deal." Chris scoffed, not really seeing the importance of such a gesture. "Friends do that all the time." Kirika pouted as she couldn't really contest Chris' claim.

"I think it's time we get in." Shirabe reminded as the two disappeared inside the theater. Immediately, they all stood up and walked quickly yet quietly towards the entrance. When they entered the theater lobby, it was easy to spot Maria and Tsubasa as both of them were so tall despite the Saturday crowd of moviegoers. Kirika made her way behind a large pillar; with everyone following right after.

"They're buying popcorn." Shirabe observed as she peeked at them from behind the pillar.

"Eh… I want popcorn too." Hibiki whined as she looked longingly at the snack bar.

"You just ate!" Chris said exasperatedly. "And we don't have time for that! The movie's about to start."

"Look, they're already going inside!" Kirika pointed out as the idols entered the designated theater for the movie with their bought popcorn and drinks. They waited for a few more seconds before they all followed, their tickets ready with Chris. Chris however had to drag Hibiki away from the snack bar by her collar.

The inside of the cinema was dim. The movie hasn't started yet and instead was showing movie trailers for future films. Their seats were at the top and at the very back, while Maria and Tsubasa were seated right in the middle. When they settled down their seats, they could easily see the tops of their heads.

"Ha! We've got the perfect seats." Hibiki said smugly as it was her who picked the seats.

"Good job, Hibiki-san! These seats are perfect!" Kirika was pleased as their position was perfect. It was almost certain that they wouldn't be spotted by them and they could easily see the two idols.

"If you guys keep on being noisy then they'll notice us!" Chris hissed as she glared at the two who were on either side of her. By some bad stroke of luck, Chris found that she was in the middle of the two couples. Again.

"They're just sitting there." Shirabe complained softly, her voice appropriately low as she burned holes at the back of their heads with her stare.

"They're not even touching." Kirika looked rightly upset as she expected something to happen, even if it was just Tsubasa putting her arms around Maria's shoulders or something.

"What? Were you expecting the two of them to suddenly make out here of all places?" Chris rolled her eyes. "Besides, they aren't even a couple yet."

"That's what happens in those romance novels…" Shirabe defended herself with a small pout.

"What kind of romance novels are you even reading? They have at least some shame." Chris pointed out. She then managed to get a glance at Hibiki and Miku to her right. Miku was already latched on Hibiki's arm and were cuddling even before the movie started. "And here we have people who have no shame." Chris groaned.

"The movie's about to start." Miku was oblivious to what Chris just said as she hushed them.

The movie opened up with a couple at work; Satoru and Mimori. They seemed to be a fairly average couple, as the guy picked up the girl from work. Then another guy called Kakeru appears and he seemed to be good friends with Mimori. It was rather obvious that he liked her but she was obviously with Satoru.

"Is this a typical love triangle story?" Chris asked as she was already starting to get bored with it. Stories about love triangles were a little overdone in her opinion.

"I'm not really sure." Hibiki scratched her head. "I didn't really read about it. I just saw the movie poster and it looked like a good romance story."

The scene changed then, when Satoru and Mimori seemed to be at home. Chris felt her heckles rise when harsh, abusive words came from Satoru's mouth as he wanted Mimori to never speak to Kakeru again. Mimori tried to plead her case but she was suddenly slapped.

"…This hardly seems romantic." Chris growled as she looked away from the screen with a shiver. Beside her, Kirika placed a hand over her eyes while Shirabe looked utterly appalled. Hibiki looked outraged and Miku seemed to be the only one who didn't outwardly react but she did frown a little.

"Maybe it'll get better?" Miku asked hopefully. "Maybe Kakeru will rescue her…"

True to Miku's prediction, the story unfolded so that Kakeru learned about Satoru's abuse and he became Mimori's emotional support. Halfway through the film, Mimori finally had the courage to separate from Satoru and hooked up with Kakeru.

"Wow Miku, you were right." Hibiki said as she looked relieved at what happened. Beside her, Chris was sniffing suspiciously at the heartfelt scene between Mimori and Kakeru. Kirika looked like she was about to start cheering while Shirabe held on tightly to Kirika's arm to stop her from acting rambunctiously while a small smile was on her lips.

The story then shifted to Satoru's point of view. When he learned of Mimori's betrayal, he seemed to totally snap as he thrashed his room wildly and swore to kill the two. What followed was his quest for vengeance and punishment. Satoru stalked Mimori and Kakeru who were leaving the city to go on a vacation. The couple arrived at a quaint cottage up in the mountains with Satoru unknowingly following them.

"Uh… I don't think I'm going to like this…" Kirika mumbled. Now the story became more of a scary thriller than a romance as Mimori and Kakeru attempt to evade and run from the crazy Satoru in the darkness of the trees. It seemed as though Satoru was everywhere as he effortlessly chased after the couple, and there were many times that he was so close to finding them. It kept everyone on the edge of their seats.

Kirika kept on chanting 'Dess!' over and over again as she gripped the armrests for dear life lest she start shrieking every time Satoru was flashed on the screen with a huge axe. It didn't help that he looked exactly like a deranged, psychotic killer. Shirabe looked rather pale as she stared straight ahead. The only indication that she was scared or surprised was that she'd jump slightly in her seat, and she does it so often it looked like she was bouncing on her seat. Chris looked totally pissed off as she cursed under her breath every time she was surprised or frightened. When she'd get especially scared, she would suddenly start cursing in English. Hibiki kept on whispering instructions to the couple on the screen as if like they can hear her. She'd often say 'No! Not there! Satoru will catch you there!' or 'You've got to hurry, he's coming!' or 'Look out! He's just behind you!' and many others. Hibiki's fist was raised and it looked like she longed to jump at the screen and punch Satoru's face. Miku was torn between stopping Hibiki from her desire to punch Satoru's face and subsequently the screen and stifling her own gasps of fear and surprise. She'd make an odd noise every time she was scared even with a hand firmly on her mouth. Her other hand was tightly gripping Hibiki's arm to keep her from moving much.

The movie finally ended when Satoru managed to kill Kakeru and Mimori managed to kill Satoru when he was distracted by his success. Mimori then became insane from what happened and was confined in an asylum. To be honest, the five of them got way too engrossed with the film that they forgot about Maria and Tsubasa. They all looked aghast at what happened as they looked at each other blankly as the credits rolled. It was hardly a happy ending and each of them had hoped for the best despite the circumstances.

"…This is the last time you're in charge of choosing a decent movie." Chris finally said flatly as she turned to Hibiki.

"This wasn't a good movie for first dates." Kirika commented. Shirabe and Miku were silent, as if they couldn't believe that the movie ended so badly. They could only just nod vigorously in agreement to Chris and Kirika's sentiment.

"This isn't a good movie for dates at all." Chris snorted as she pointed out the obvious. The last part in particular was hardly romantic in any way. It was more in line for a suspense movie! The romance in the story only lasted for like ten minutes before everything went downhill fast.

"Ah! Did you guys see what Maria and Tsubasa-san were doing during the movie?" Shirabe asked anxiously as she was finally reminded of why they were even there in the first place.

"I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be doing anything remotely romantic with that kind of movie…" Miku trailed off.

"Didn't anyone pay attention to them?" Kirika asked in horror. Everyone else shook their heads in negative.

"We sort of enjoyed the movie though… Since we were all watching it so closely instead of Maria-san and Tsubasa-san." Hibiki pointed out with a sheepish scratch of her head.

"And if you guys haven't noticed, the two of them have already left." Chris pointed out dryly as she glanced at where Maria and Tsubasa were seated just a few minutes ago. The seats were now obviously vacated.

"Wah! Why didn't you say so earlier, Chris-senpai?" Kirika then pulled on Chris and Shirabe's arms so that they could exit the cinema and run after Maria and Tsubasa. They'd need to get to the sub before the two of them! When they finally got out into the lobby, Kirika wildly looked around for their targets but it seemed as though the lobby became twice as crowded and they couldn't find them.

"W-where did all these people come from?" Hibiki asked bewilderedly. They then heard people screaming and shouting.

"Did something happen? Is there an emergency?" Shirabe asked in concern. The five of them huddled against each other as more and more people were starting to crowd into them.

The situation became clear to them when a guy nearby shouted loudly. "Kazanari Tsubasa and Maria Cadenzavna Eve are here!" His shout netted even more shouting as people all clamored to see the two idols. Chants of Maria and Tsubasa's names could be heard throughout the large theater lobby. Chris swore loudly as she was pushed into a nearby pillar by the throng of people. Kirika and Hibiki elbowed their way to Chris as they held on tightly to Shirabe and Miku lest they get lost in the crowd.

"What are we going to do!? With this crowd it would be impossible just to get out!" Kirika cried out in frustration. It was amazing how just by merely appearing in public people would all gather and riot just to see the famous top idols. Sometimes, they keep on forgetting just how famous Maria and Tsubasa were.

"And what about Maria-san and Tsubasa-san? Will they be alright in this crowd of people?" Miku asked in concern.

"Senpai'll be fine. I'm pretty sure she's used to this. What we need to worry about is ourselves." Chris assured as she was tempted to poke out the eyeballs of the guy who kept on stepping on her foot. She could only give him a withering glare and was satisfied when he apologized profusely before hightailing it.

"Elfnein! We need backup!" Shirabe then contacted Elfnein. If they don't get out of here soon, they wouldn't make it in time for the dinner!

"What's the situation?" Elfnein responded immediately. It was difficult to hear her as the crowd was going nuts.

"People found out that Maria and Tsubasa-san are here in the theater and it caused a riot!" Kirika exclaimed. "There are so many people and it'll be hard to get out!"

"I understand! I'll have backup sent to you! If you can, try to get out of the theater! Maria and Tsubasa-san have already left the theater but they aren't on the motorcycle yet. They seem to be on the run for now. The crowd would probably thin out in a bit to follow them. That'll be your chance!" Elfnein instructed as she analyzed the situation from where she was.

"Alright then!" Chris said as she cracked her knuckles. "We'd better get out of here and fast! Better not get lost!" She told them sternly. They all nodded as they stuck close to each other and held hands. Chris was in the lead as she elbowed her way through the throng of people. True to Elfnein's word, the dizzying crowd earlier was thinning out but it still took them a valiant ten minutes before they were finally able to get back out into the street.

"Finally!" Kirika, Chris and Hibiki all chorused in absolute relief as they got through the exit alive. Every single one of them looked like they just went through a battlefield, their spyglasses askew, their hair sticking up and their clothes all rumpled. They had to take a moment to arrange their bedraggled appearances.

"Everyone! Over here!" A familiar voice then called out to them. They all turned to see Tomosato Aoi waving at them, a parked car beside her.

"Aoi-san!" Hibiki looked like she was about to cry as they all rushed to the older woman. "How did you know?"

"Elfnein asked me to help you guys a bit." Aoi winked as she smiled widely at them. "Come on, Shinji-san should already be helping Maria-san and Tsubasa-san. You all need to get back first right?"

"Yes! Thank you so much." Kirika exclaimed gratefully as they all boarded the car. With Chris at the front seat, the remaining four had to squeeze in at the back to all fit. No one really cared since this was comfortable compared to what they experienced at the theater.

"I'm so glad you were there to help us out Aoi-san." Hibiki said thankfully.

"We do occasional rescues for this sort of thing." Aoi laughed as she looked up at the rearview mirror to look at the others at the back. "You wouldn't believe how often this sort of thing happened back when Zwei Wing was starting to become really popular. Kanade-san and Tsubasa-san always underestimated how popular they are and we had to often rescue them from a mob of enthusiastic fans." She recounted. "Although that crowd you managed to survive through is the biggest I have ever seen outside of a concert. Being internationally famous really does make more of a difference."

"Maria-san and Tsubasa-san are really amazing…" Miku murmured in awe. "Since we're all friends with them, it's easy to forget that they're really famous even around the world."

"Well, at least we got out of that alive." Chris said in relief. "Thanks for getting us help, Elfnein." Chris then addressed her communicator. "And you too." Chris turned to Aoi who nodded.

"I'm glad I was able to help out." Elfnein said, sounding pleased.

"And now we're on our way to the next part of our final battle!" Kirika proclaimed as her spyglasses gleamed. "The dinner!" Chris groaned loudly in response to that. This was definitely the part she had been dreading…

* * *

Meanwhile…

Tsubasa ran as fast as her legs could carry her while dragging Maria along with her. They can audibly hear the screams of rabid fans behind them and it only served to spur them on faster. Tsubasa honestly did not know how quickly things escalated so fast. After the movie and its rather disturbing ending, they had engaged in debating if the movie had been good or not.

Tsubasa had been trying to convince Maria that the movie wasn't really all that scary but Maria had to remind her that she spent the whole chase sequence clinging to Maria's arm with a semi-permanent frozen expression on her face and that she felt Tsubasa's grip tighten every single time that Satoru would jump out of nowhere. Maria secretly wasn't any better but she was just an expert at pretending to be calm. It was because of this that they totally forgot to put their sunglasses back on.

Despite their efforts to at least change their usual hairstyles, they were still fairly recognizable especially without their sunglasses. That led to their predicament right now, with the two of them running for their lives from their fans.

"How much farther?" Maria sounded like she was tiring as she gasped out her question.

"Just a bit more." Tsubasa replied as she tightened her grip on Maria's hand as encouragement. They were finally nearing the bend when Tsubasa saw a familiar black car parked on the other side of the street. The door opened on its own as the two idols neared. They then practically dove into the car and it sped off abruptly as soon as they were in.

"Thank you, Ogawa-san." Tsubasa said as she sagged in relief into her seat.

"That was a close one." Ogawa said with his cheerful smile. "Please be more careful next time. As usual Tsubasa-san, I'll pick up your motorcycle later." Ogawa really was the best at his job.

"That was the first time that ever happened to me." Maria commented, sounding almost amazed as she caught her breath. Even before when she was with the FIS and her career as a singer had just started then, she didn't really go out in public. Not like Mom would've let her anyway. Even with her stint as the UN's propaganda idol, she wasn't allowed to roam in public either. This was her first encounter with rabid fans.

The last time Tsubasa and herself had been out to enjoy a short coffee date, they had been much more careful and Maria did not take off her sunglasses at any time. They had been careless today and it came to bite them in the ass quickly.

"It was fun in a way." A soft smile tugged at Tsubasa's lips as the event made her remember the past. Kanade used to always sneak out and have fun without caring for disguises. Ogawa and the others had to always pull her out of a mob of fans. Maria's features softened as she understood what was going on in Tsubasa's head. Tsubasa always made that face whenever she would think about her former partner.

"Although I don't think I'd want a repeat of that." Maria smiled as she squeezed Tsubasa's hand. They still hadn't let go of each other's hands the whole time. "The next time we go out, we'll be more careful." Tsubasa's smile widened a little at the promise of more dates to come. They may have been forced on this one by Hibiki and Miku and even with the rabid fans incident, it had been a fun time.

"Yeah." Tsubasa agreed as they both smiled at each other.


	7. The Dinner

Elfnein was already waiting for them in the room next to the aptly dubbed 'date room'. Their maid outfits were all ready to wear and the first two dishes of the planned four course meal had just been delivered and covered to keep them warm and fresh. The date room itself was already decorated as Elfnein even brought in fresh flowers along with the paper flowers. All that was now needed was for the six of them to change into their maid outfits.

"Hurry everyone! Ogawa-san will be arriving with Tsubasa-san and Maria-san in fifteen minutes!" Elfnein told them as Kirika, Shirabe, Hibiki, Miku and Chris all rushed inside the room.

"Alright! Good job Elfnein." Kirika praised as she removed her spy glasses. Hibiki already had her shirt halfway off as no one really cared about modesty since they were pressed for time. Shirabe almost lost her balance as she pulled off her skirt, only to be caught by Chris who already had her maid outfit halfway on. Kirika flailed with her top as she couldn't pull it down properly and Miku had to valiantly rescue her from the threat of suffocation. Due to the chaos in the room, Elfnein couldn't find her shoes and it took a brief hunt over the whole room before she found them underneath Hibiki's discarded shirt.

Fifteen minutes passed before one could say that the six of them looked presentable. They also had to clean up the chaos in the room as it looked like a whirlwind passed through with all the clothes strewn about. Just as they finished with their task, the communicator that Elfnein was using came to life.

"They're here." Ogawa's voice declared simply before it cut off.

"DESS!" Kirika yelped as she started panicking and running around. Like a chicken with its head cut off. "What do we do, what do we do, what do we-" Kirika was abruptly cut off from her panicking when Chris grabbed her by the collar and yanked. Kirika made a garbled sound of a pterodactyl screeching as she was roughly stopped in her tracks. Her arms windmilled to keep her balance and not fall on her butt.

"Stop panicking you idiot! We're here now so stop being stupid!" Chris thundered as she let go. Kirika laughed nervously as she rubbed her neck. Chris was right though. It wouldn't do good to anyone if she panicked right now when the dinner that they've all prepared so much for is happening.

"We can do this Kiri-chan." Shirabe then stood before Kirika and held her hands to soothe her. Shirabe's smile was both calming and encouraging. "Okay?"

"Sorry Shirabe, Chris-senpai. I just got really nervous all of a sudden." Kirika said sheepishly and bowed her head a little in apology.

"Come on Kirika-chan! We can't keep Tsubasa-san and Maria-san waiting right?" Hibiki grinned as she patted Kirika on the back encouragingly.

"Right!" Kirika nodded as she calmed down. "Everyone, let's go!" Kirika said as she pointed to the door that led to the date room. And so, Shirabe opened the door and let everyone else in. Miku and Elfnein had outdone themselves as the room looked appropriately romantic with all the flowers and candles they put in. The table for two was in the middle and the fancy plates and cutlery they borrowed from Aoi arranged neatly on it. A shiny candelabra and fresh flowers were arranged in the middle of the table.

Kirika and Shirabe moved quickly to light all the candles around the room and on the table. They then made their way in front of the door that led to the hallway. This was where Maria and Tsubasa were to enter. The six of them arranged themselves in a straight line right in front of the door.

"They'll be here soon." Elfnein murmured, sounding a little nervous yet excited. Just as she spoke those words, the door opened, revealing a surprised Maria and Tsubasa as they stopped dead in their tracks and gaped.

"Welcome home, Ojou-sama!" All six of them chorused as they had practiced countless times and bowed lowly before straightening up with. All of them had welcoming smiles except for Chris of course as her smile was more of a pained grimace than anything.

"W-what's this?" It was Maria who recovered first as she cautiously stepped closer to the others, looking around the room in wonder. Tsubasa followed a few seconds after as she recovered from her own shock too.

"Surprise!" Hibiki and Kirika chorused with huge grins.

"We didn't really get to celebrate when the two of you came back home so this is our very late welcome back party!" Kirika explained, having readied this excuse days ago.

"We've prepared dinner for you two." Shirabe smiled, gesturing to the table for two behind them.

"So that was your plan." Tsubasa mused, smiling a little. "I have to ask though. Why are you all dressed like that?" Tsubasa asked, puzzled.

"Why? Do you not like it?" Shirabe pouted, looking a little upset.

"No! No, of course not." Maria denied immediately, elbowing Tsubasa not-so-gently on the stomach. Tsubasa grunted a little, half-glaring at Maria. "You all look wonderfully cute!" Maria really sometimes sounded like a proud mom. There were pleased blushes and smiles all around at Maria's earnest compliment.

"We're going to be your servers today so we have to take our jobs seriously and dress up, right?" Hibiki grinned brilliantly, proudly puffing out her chest.

"So that's why you forced us to go watch a movie, so that you can prepare all this." Tsubasa realized. Well, she wasn't entirely right but no one bothered to correct her or else they might find out they actually spied on them earlier.

"Did you like the movie?" Miku asked curiously.

"Well… It was certainly… Interesting." Maria hesitantly commented.

"I didn't know you were into those kinds of movies, Tachibana." Tsubasa turned to Hibiki who smiled sheepishly in response.

"I'm just as surprised as you are. I didn't really expect it to end like a murder thriller. I so wanted to punch Satoru's face to the ground." Hibiki blabbered on.

"Oh? You've watched it already?" Tsubasa asked curiously. Chris discretely stepped on Hibiki's foot with a warning glare. Hibiki 'eep'ed as she got the message from Chris loud and clear. Hibiki could only laugh nervously as she stopped herself from saying anymore.

"We actually watched it a few days ago." Miku smoothly cut in to save her partner from saying anything that might compromise their earlier spy mission.

"You two should sit down!" Elfnein invited as a way to move the topic away from the earlier discussion. "Here Maria-san." Elfnein pulled on the chair with a bit of effort and smiled at Maria so that she could sit.

"Thank you, Elfnein." Maria said graciously as she sat down at the indicated seat.

"Here senpai." Chris moved quickly so that she copied Elfnein, offering the seat to Tsubasa.

"I'm grateful, Yukine." Tsubasa said softly as she sat. Hibiki and Miku then took a pitcher of water each that was at a side table and filled their glasses.

"Please be patient as we will serve your meal. If you need assistance, please don't hesitate to ring the bell." Shirabe intoned as she indicated the small bell that was on the table, looking very serious as the six of them bowed and shuffled out to the next room.

"I felt real nervous there." Elfnein shared as she giggled a little. "Pretending to be a maid is actually fun." There were nods of agreement from the others, except for Chris who only grumbled under her breath.

"According to our list, first up is the bouillabaisse." Shirabe said as she peered on the handy dandy list the cooks made for their reference on which to serve first. Unknowingly, she totally botched up the pronunciation of the foreign dish.

"That doesn't sound very appetizing." Chris made a face at the strange name.

"But since it's a foreign dish, I'm sure it tastes good…" Shirabe tried to sound assuring but with the way she trailed off, she didn't really sound very confident.

"It smells good though." Hibiki commented as she took off the covers of the indicated dish. There were two bowls of the soup and Shirabe smiled in relief when she saw that the bowls were of differing sizes. She had specifically requested for Maria's portions to be bigger since she really loves food. Hibiki's mouth started watering involuntarily at the nice smell.

"Don't you dare drool over that." Chris growled right behind her and Hibiki gave a startled squeak.

"I'm not drooling!" Hibiki denied, a little miffed but she discretely wiped away said drool from the corner of her mouth.

"Oh! There's a bottle of chilled wine here." Miku spoke up as she noticed a bottle of wine being chilled inside a bucket full of ice.

"Huh? We didn't ask for wine…" Chris trailed off as she came closer to inspect Miku's claim.

"There's a note." Miku saw a small folded note right beside the chilled wine and she carefully took it to take a peek at the message.

 _For Maria. Just something to officially welcome her to SONG. – Tomosato Aoi, Sakuya Fujitaka, Ogawa Shinji and Kazanari Genjuuro. PS – Tsubasa can have some but only one glass._

"Ohh! Maria-san didn't really get a welcoming party right? It's a welcoming gift for her!" Hibiki realized as she read the note from behind Miku. With all that had happened because of Carol, they just didn't have the time for it.

"Then we should serve the wine too." Shirabe said with a smile. She felt grateful that Genjuuro and the others were so thoughtful and welcoming to Maria.

"We should serve the soup soon. We can't have them wait for too long." Elfnein reminded them as the minutes trickled by.

"Oh, right." Hibiki sheepishly scratched her head. Miku then gave her the silver tray and Hibiki held it so that Miku can place the two soup bowls on it. Miku then carried the ice bucket with the wine carefully. With Miku guiding her, Hibiki carefully walked towards the door. Elfnein pushed the door open so that the two of them can enter the date room again.

Tsubasa and Maria quieted as they entered, their faces mostly curious. Miku carefully placed the bowls of soup on top of their plates.

"Thank you, Kohinata, Tachibana." Tsubasa thanked them warmly while Maria's eyes were already shining as she looked down at her slightly bigger bowl of soup.

"Maria-san, we've also got some wine for you." Hibiki said cheerfully as Miku held up the wine bottle. "Courtesy of Master and the others."

"Oh! Thank you. I would need to thank them later as well." Maria said gratefully as she allowed Miku to pour her a glass.

"Tsubasa-san, if you want, they said we can give you one glass." Miku then turned to Tsubasa who looked intrigued and curious.

"Alright. Thank you." Tsubasa didn't seem to have any reservations about consuming alcohol as she nodded and Miku poured her a glass as well. She then promptly left the wine bottle on the table.

"Enjoy your meal!" Hibiki chirped as the two of them bowed and promptly left.

"Success!" Hibiki cheered as soon as the door swung shut. "And I didn't drop anything!"

"You did really well Hibiki." Miku praised as she smiled at her partner.

"Hehe, with you helping me Miku, of course I'll do well." Hibiki declared as she winked.

Kirika then stood on her tiptoes as the door had a little window so that she can peek in at the couple and watch them eat. As they sat there conversing and with the really nice atmosphere around them, it really looked like they were on a fancy dinner date. But then, she realized that there was something very important that they were missing. Something that they totally forgot and was very essential to any romantic dinner.

"This is a disaster!" Kirika dramatically exclaimed so suddenly that Hibiki almost dropped the empty tray she was holding.

"What's wrong, Kiri-chan?" Shirabe asked in concern. Everyone else looked at Kirika, curious at the horrified expression on her face.

"I can't believe we totally forgot about it! What are we supposed to do?!" Kirika was panicking again as she hopped up and down like a rabbit on drugs.

"Hey, calm down already." Chris quickly placed her hands on Kirika's shoulders to still her. "What's the matter anyway?" Even Chris would actually say that the dinner was going well. She could not fathom why Kirika was in such a tizzy.

"Chris-senpai! We forgot the music!" Kirika all but yelled as she quite suddenly also took hold of Chris' shoulders and started shaking her forcefully.

"W-what the h-hell?! S-Stop t-that!" Chris' threat didn't really sound all that threatening with how her words were barely even discernable because of Kirika shaking her so hard. Thankfully, Kirika listened to her as she stopped shaking her but she still had this panicked look on her face.

"What kind of a romantic dinner would this be if there's no romantic music?!" Kirika exclaimed loudly as she fretted. Shirabe gasped behind them as she realized that Kirika had a point.

"Kiri-chan's right, we're missing music! Especially since the two of them love music a lot." Shirabe didn't panic like Kirika had but there was a deep frown on her face. How could they have forgotten that? With all their careful preparations, they missed something so vitally important!

"What? You guys are worrying about this now? It's not like the two of them would mind if there is no music!" Chris pointed out in disbelief. It's not like it's that big of a deal.

"There should be an orchestra in there, or just a few violins and a piano or something since we're aiming for the ultimate romantic dinner date!" Kirika insisted on her point. "What if they wanted to dance or something?! We wouldn't be able to see that because there's no music!"

"Miku can play the piano…" Hibiki suggested thoughtfully.

"But we don't have a piano here." Miku pointed out the obvious immediately with a shaky smile.

"Look, we can argue about this all we want but don't forget that we still have food to serve." Chris reminded them flatly, managing to finally pry away Kirika's hold on her shoulders. Twenty minutes had already passed since the soup was served and it was about time for the next course to be served. Kirika then stood on her tip toes once again to peer through the window. It seemed that Maria and Tsubasa were already finished with their soup.

"Ah! It's Chris-senpai and Elfnein's turn to serve the food!" Kirika yelped in realization.

So their discussion was put on hold as Chris and Elfnein brought out the Caesar Salad as instructed by Shirabe. Kirika fretted as she watched Elfnein get the empty bowls and place the plates of salad carefully in front of the two idols. Where were they supposed to get music now? If they had been prepared then Kirika would have rented a band or something. Or maybe at least just set up some speakers and prepare a playlist of romantic songs. Where else could she get a music player out of nowhe-

"I got it Chris-senpai!" Kirika practically pounced on Chris as soon as she put down the tray she was holding on. That was it! It was perfect! "We can use our Symphogears to play music!" Kirika exclaimed.

"Why are you so dead-set on this, and why do you keep on jumping on me?!" Chris demanded as she had no choice but to catch Kirika in her arms. They almost fell down if it weren't for Chris' hard effort to keep her balance.

"I don't think the Commander would appreciate it if you used the Symphogear without a good reason…" Elfnein pointed out softly as she arranged the empty bowls to the side for easy pick up later.

"But this is a good reason! This is an emergency!" Kirika argued.

"We'll just get scolded by the old man! You know that we aren't allowed to use our Symphogears just for kicks!" Chris exploded as she was already feeling a little pissed off with Kirika's insistence. At that, Kirika pouted and started sulking as she was chastised.

"I thought it was a good idea." Kirika mumbled, crestfallen.

"None of our Gears are suited for romantic date songs anyway…" Hibiki commented thoughtfully as she genuinely thought over Kirika's suggestion.

"How about we serenade them? It's almost the same thing anyway." Shirabe suggested as she patted Kirika on the head to make her feel better.

"Don't you dare bring me into this again. I'm not singing for anyone." Chris scowled, cutting them off before they even spoke as they both looked at her at the same time. With all that's happened, Chris was 100% sure that they'll manage to drag her into something unpleasant again if she doesn't speak out immediately.

"Boo." Kirika pouted a little more as she was just about to ask Chris. She then looked hopefully at Hibiki and Miku.

"It's… kinda awkward serenading two idols." Hibiki said as she scratched her cheek ruefully. "I mean I can sing with the Symphogear just fine but it's a little intimidating to sing for them both without it you know? They're two of the best singers in the world!" Somehow, singing with the Symphogear was a markedly different experience. With the Symphogear, one has to sing to be able to fight and so it was a necessity for its users to sing. Singing then was normal and familiar to all of them. But singing for an audience was nerve-wrecking and there is the fact that Tsubasa and Maria were professional singers.

"Especially since we aren't as good as they are." Miku added as she nodded to Hibiki's sentiment. Singing with them was fine, but singing for them was a little… embarrassing.

"But, but…" Kirika tried to appeal to them but she couldn't really think of anything as she understood their concerns very well.

"Didn't you two sing just fine in the school festival last year? Why don't the two of you do it?" Chris reminded wearily.

"D-DESS! That was different!" Kirika flushed as she remembered that. Shirabe went red as well. "We weren't really thinking since we just wanted your pendants…" Now that she thought about it that was really embarrassing. That had been a spur of the moment thing especially since they mostly just wanted to antagonize and challenge them at that time.

"And we didn't know the people then. It didn't really matter much." Shirabe reasoned.

"So you don't mind a large crowd of strangers but when it comes to these two you just fold like cheap accordions?" Chris asked in disbelief before shaking her head. "And it's not like they haven't heard you guys sing before."

"No, thank you." Shirabe said firmly.

"Um… If you want, we can play music over the HQ speakers…" Elfnein suggested after a beat of silence.

"Oh! Yeah, we can do that!" Kirika exclaimed in relief as a very easy solution came from Elfnein.

"But wouldn't the music play all over the sub if we did that?" Hibiki asked curiously.

"I think there's a way to have sound to come out of a specific speaker from the bridge." Elfnein answered. "I'll just call on Aoi-san if she can arrange it…" Elfnein then took out her communicator to speak with Aoi. A knock on the door came as well, and Shirabe opened it to find one of the cooks in the sub with a large tray. It was the entrée of their four course meal! Thanking him profusely, Shirabe carried the tray in.

"You need music right? Leave it to me!" Instead of Aoi, it was Fujitaka's confident voice that floated from the communicator. Kirika could only sigh in relief as she calmed down once more. It was nice that they had the support of even Aoi and Fujitaka.

"Kiri-chan, it's our turn now." Shirabe then told her partner as it was time for the entrée to be served. Kirika nodded to her as she pushed the door open. As Shirabe told Chris a few days before, Kirika was clumsy when it came to not tripping when she happened to have something in her arms that she did not want to spill. Once, Kirika had tripped and spilled the pot of curry she was holding on to back when they were still with the FIS. Their heli smelled like curry for days and Dr. Ver unfortunately (fortunately?) slipped on the spilled curry. Dr. Ver may have deserved it but Kirika knew that she couldn't risk a repeat of that and so Shirabe was the one who carried the tray.

"Thank you for waiting!" Kirika chirped, a huge smile on her face as she approached the table with Shirabe following demurely behind her. Maria and Tsubasa looked up from their conversation and both of them smiled. And then, music started playing from the hidden speakers in the room. Kirika's smile faded while Shirabe paled when the familiar strains of music reached their ears. The two of them stopped dead as Just Loving X-Edge echoed throughout the room. Kirika and Shirabe could only look at each other in abject horror.

"A song?" Tsubasa wondered as the two idols heard the music as well.

"Isn't that… Your battle songs?" Maria asked with furrowed brows. She recognized it fairly easily despite having heard it only a few times before and Maria was quite familiar with Kirika and Shirabe's voices. She glanced at Kirika and Shirabe, and then at Tsubasa with a puzzled expression on her face. Why was the song even playing?

Knowing that they have a job to do, Kirika forced a smile on her lips as she stiffly nodded and took Shirabe's elbow so that her frozen partner would move. This was definitely more than a little embarrassing… Even though they had heard them sing countless times before that was all in battle. Kirika could only cringe a little as she heard her own singing. Hearing it like this embarrassed her. Beside her, Shirabe did not look any better. Kirika can practically feel the questioning and curious gazes burning through her and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"…We thought that music would be nice for the dinner." Kirika sighed admittedly, her face pink as she carefully replaced their empty salad plates with the entrée that is baked salmon on a bed of fragrant rice pilaf. "We requested music from the bridge and well, this played." Kirika shifted uneasily as she was too embarrassed to look at the two idols in the eye.

"I see…" Tsubasa murmured as she nodded appreciatively to Kirika. Tsubasa did not add more to that as she probably noticed that their two servers were a little withdrawn.

"This looks absolutely delicious." Maria said warmly as Shirabe nudged Kirika and pointedly looked at Maria's now empty wine glass. Remembering that it was their job to refill that, Kirika gingerly took the wine bottle and refilled Maria's glass. Obviously, their faces were still red with embarrassment. Maria and Tsubasa then looked at each other and Maria gave her an imperceptible nod.

"You both seem distraught." Tsubasa then said observantly. Kirika and Shirabe both flushed darker at the observation.

"Ahaha, well… It's embarrassing having to listen to our own songs." Kirika admitted as she sheepishly scratched her head.

"Why? I like your songs very much." Tsubasa told them bluntly. Now, the two of them blushed to the roots of their hair at the rather blunt compliment and from Tsubasa no less, the singer that they admired from way back when.

"I never told you how much I enjoyed listening to your 'Orbital Beat' before, have I?" Tsubasa had a small yet sincere smile playing at her lips now and both Kirika and Shirabe had to wonder how they were still standing with all the blood rushing to their faces. Tsubasa's sincere words made them really happy and embarrassed and everything in-between.

"I've always loved your songs too since they're so characteristic of you two." Maria praised them as well, her smile both motherly and proud. "So you shouldn't feel ashamed or embarrassed of them."

Feeling a lot better at their praise that wasn't just meaningless flattery, Kirika and Shirabe both smiled now as they bowed to the two idols. "Please enjoy your meal." The two chorused.

"And thank you." Shirabe smiled, feeling a little bit better now as they both bowed and left the two to their dinner.

When they returned to the other room, the others didn't comment on the song still playing, knowing that it would just embarrass Kirika and Shirabe if they did. There were audible sighs of relief from the two of them when the song finished. Another song then started playing and Miku visibly flinched and paled when Waikyou Senshoujing can be heard clearly through the room.

"H-how do they still have that?!" Miku asked, aghast. Hibiki could only pat her comfortingly at her back.

"I think that's enough songs from us." Chris sighed as she took the communicator. "Hey! Stop playing our songs damnit!" Chris yelled into it.

"What? But you guys wanted romantic songs!" Fujitaka sounded innocently confused. Kirika, Shirabe and Miku all groaned in response to that. Miku had to hide her face with her hands, mortified. So now their songs were classified as romantic. Well, he wasn't really wrong…

"We didn't mean our Symphogear songs you dimwit! Just change it already to something more normal or popular or something! Why do you even have recordings of our songs anyway?!" Chris all but exploded.

"Oh, right. I'll get on it." Fujitaka sounded disappointed that their songs wouldn't be playing anymore. "It's part of research of course. We've got recordings of everyone's Symphogear songs." Fujitaka then explained. Chris felt a shudder run through her frame. She was suddenly very glad that her song hasn't been played.

Miku breathed a sigh of absolute relief when the song changed to a random pop song one could easily hear over the radio. "Oh thank goodness that's over."

"I don't really understand why you don't like your songs playing." Elfnein then commented with a sad little frown. "I like your songs."

"Ah well you know… It's embarrassing and all." Hibiki said sheepishly. A loud growling sound then came from Hibiki's tummy. Everyone else looked at her and Hibiki blushed under the scrutiny.

"…I'm hungry." Hibiki said as she held onto her stomach with her sheepish grin.

"Oh, we haven't eaten dinner yet." Elfnein blinked as she looked at the digital clock in the room. It was already 8:22pm. They were so worried and busy over the dinner for Tsubasa and Maria that they forgot about themselves.

"I think there's still dinner in the dining hall. I wonder if we can have some sent here…" Shirabe trailed off as she was reminded that she was hungry too.

"We'll just have food sent up with the dessert." Chris said as she took the communicator from Elfnein to contact the cooks. "Just bear with it for a bit." She told Hibiki who nodded glumly.

To pass the time, Kirika, Shirabe and Hibiki stood on their tip toes to peer through the small window on the door to watch Maria and Tsubasa. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't hear what they were saying but it was at least a relief to see that the two of them looked like they were enjoying themselves as they talked and smiled at each other.

"They really get along well." Hibiki commented as she smiled a little to see Tsubasa relaxed. She had begun noticing lately that Tsubasa wasn't as uptight whenever she was alone with Maria. As the senpai of pretty much everyone else, she always appeared as the responsible and reliable one. Kirika and Shirabe gave vigorous nods of agreement to Hibiki's comment.

"I've never seen Maria laugh like that before." Kirika said rather fondly as she watched Maria laugh outloud, even banging the table for emphasis.

"I… don't think I've seen that either." Shirabe frowned, a little alarmed at how uncharacteristic Maria was behaving.

"Maybe Tsubasa-san told a real great joke..?" Hibiki suggested skeptically, having never seen Maria act in such a way before either.

"Hey you three, the dessert is here and so is our food." Chris called out to them and the three of them turned back, totally missing the now concerned look that Tsubasa was sporting over Maria's antics.

"Yay! Food!" Hibiki cried out in happiness as they each had a plate of curry waiting for them. Without preamble, Hibiki snatched her plate and a spoon before shoveling her food to her mouth.

"You guys can eat already. I'll deliver the dessert." Chris of course allowed everyone else to eat first as she is the senpai around here as she took the tray that had two plates of molten chocolate cake with a scoop of ice cream on top.

"Oh! I'll help you." Miku immediately volunteered. She wasn't all that hungry yet anyway. Chris nodded as Miku opened the door to let her through and followed her. Before anyone else could say or do anything, Maria gave one look at Miku before she suddenly stood up, her chair almost falling over before she suddenly launched herself at Miku and tackled her into a hug designed to crack ribs.

"Serenaaaaaa!" Maria wailed as Miku felt like she was being squeezed to death. Both Chris and Tsubasa could only gape at the unexpected action. "I've really missed youuuu! Why did you leave meeeee!?"

"Ah, Maria-san… I can't breathe…" Miku gasped in distress, her voice muffled as her face was buried in Maria's impressively large chest.

"H-hey! You're gonna kill her at this rate!" Chris exclaimed as she hastily put down the tray she was holding to pry Maria away from Miku. Tsubasa also stood up to help and they barely managed to save Miku from suffocation.

"You okay?" Chris asked Miku in concern.

"I'm fine." Miku smiled ruefully as she smoothed out her rumpled maid outfit.

"Tsubasaaa." Maria whined as she latched on Tsubasa's arm like a leech. Since Tsubasa was only a few centimeters shorter, there was no danger of her suffocating since her face was nowhere near Maria's chest.

"Maria, you're drunk." Tsubasa chastised just a little bit. Maria only pouted cutely like a little kid. It didn't really suit her much. Chris peered at the wine bottle that was given to Maria and found that it was already empty.

"She's already emptied the whole thing!" Chris exclaimed as her face scrunched up in a weird combination of concern and displeasure.

"I didn't think that wine is strong enough to get someone drunk." Tsubasa sighed as she felt perfectly fine as she had only one glass.

"Of course it's strong enough! Especially when you're going to drink the whole bottle like that!" Chris exclaimed and she yelped when Maria latched onto her this time.

"But I'm not druuunk." Maria whined as she patted Chris' head. "Your hair is so fluffy." Maria then giggled. "Like a… a rabbit!" She then smiled widely, pleased at her comparison. "I've always wanted to touch iiit." Maria continued on patting Chris' hair

"S-stop that!" Chris exclaimed sharply as she tried to take a hold of Maria's wrist to stop her from ruining her hair. However, Maria wasn't at all deterred and she kept on fluffing Chris' hair. Now, Chris was feeling even more embarrassed and angry. "I said 'stop'!" Chris thundered as she slapped Maria's hand away. Maria was temporarily stunned before tears filled her eyes and she started crying.

"W-wahh! Chris hates me!" Maria wailed. Immediately regretting her actions, Chris looked guilty and panicked as she looked at the other two for help. She was met with identical looks of disapproval on both Tsubasa and Miku's faces.

"H-hey! I don't hate you!" Chris exclaimed frantically, not really knowing what else to do to stop Maria from crying.

"But you do!" Maria sobbed before clinging to Miku again. "Serenaaa, Chris hates meee!"

"There, there Maria-san." Miku patted Maria's back awkwardly as she made sure that she won't be in danger of suffocation by making sure that her face won't be smooshed into Maria's breasts again.

"You don't call me that." Maria sniffed. "Don't you call me Maria-neesan?"

"…Maria-neesan." Miku amended and Maria squealed in delight, temporarily forgetting about Chris. Her happiness was short-lived however when she turned to Chris who was awkwardly standing there. She then burst into tears again.

"Yukine… Do something…" Tsubasa urged as she looked like she didn't know what to do and how to deal with Maria's drunken emotions. In fact, it seemed as though she couldn't look at Maria's crying face.

"…Alright already, geez." Chris mumbled and came closer to Maria cautiously. "…Sorry." Chris then mumbled, her voice could hardly be heard but she bowed her head a little in apology. Maria stopped crying as she sniffled a little at Chris' apology. She then patted Chris on the head again. This time, Chris did not reprimand her and so Maria smiled in delight as she continued her actions.

"Fluffy, fluffy." Maria hummed as she also pulled Chris into her embrace. Now, Chris and Miku had no choice but to stay still as both of them were being tightly hugged and their heads patted by Maria. Tsubasa could only sigh in relief as Maria had stopped crying. She was now happily smiling and murmuring something that all of them were fairly sure was not English or Japanese.

"Miku? What's taking you so long?" Hibiki then came out of the other room. Kirika and Shirabe also followed her, wondering why Chris and Miku had not yet returned. The three then stopped dead at the unusual scene of Maria embracing a helpless Miku and Chris.

"Uh…" Kirika then looked questioningly at Tsubasa.

"Maria's drunk." Was the only explanation Tsubasa could offer.

"Oh." Shirabe said in understanding. She had never seen Maria drunk before and so Shirabe watched her curiously.

"You didn't get to eat your dessert!" Hibiki gasped, looking affronted as she spotted the untouched desserts.

"Things happened." Tsubasa merely shrugged.

"THERE'S DESSERT?! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME?!" Maria practically screeched, making everyone jump before she finally let go of Chris and Miku to snatch one of the plates and dug in.

"…This is the last time you're drinking this much wine." Tsubasa scolded lightly. Maria pouted but did not protest as she was too busy stuffing herself with the cake.

"We should've used the cake to distract Maria-san." Miku chuckled softly. Maria then glared at her, her cheeks puffing out in indignation. "Maria-neesan." Miku corrected and Maria smiled once more.

"Maria-neesan?" Hibiki repeated, her eyebrow raised.

"She thinks I'm Serena-san." Miku told her.

"Really?" Kirika didn't really know if she should laugh or feel real bad. "She really is drunk."

"Sorry to cut the dinner so quickly." Tsubasa apologized. "But I think Maria should go and rest now."

"Yes, I think that would be the best too." Shirabe nodded in agreement. If Maria was starting to see Miku as Serena… Well, she definitely needs to rest now.

"She's such an insufferable drunk." Chris scowled as she ran a hand through her hair to make it presentable again. All of Maria's patting and fluffing totally mussed up her hair.

"She is rather clingy and emotional but she's not that bad." Tsubasa laughed a little before a haunted look stole over her face. "You would not want to see the commander drunk." No one wanted to comment on that ominous warning.

"Could you call on Elfnein as well? We'd like to thank all of you for the wonderful dinner." Tsubasa then requested after a moment of silence. Hibiki nodded before skipping to the other room to get Elfnein. When Elfnein entered, Maria quickly squealed and launched herself at her, easily picking up the little alchemist and squeezing the life out of her.

"M-Maria-san?" Elfnein gasped.

"You're so cuuute Elfnein!" Maria squealed.

"Hey, why didn't you react that way when we came in?" Kirika asked with a small pout. Maria suddenly looked stricken at Kirika's words before tears once again gathered in her eyes.

"I'm sorry! Kirika, Shirabe, Hibiki!" Maria wailed and attempted to gather the other three into her arms. Somehow, she managed the feat and the four of them were now being squeezed tightly. "You're all cute okay? Don't ever doubt that!" Strange gurgling and squeaking sounds were the only answer to Maria's comment as the four of them couldn't breathe.

"Maria! Please don't kill them." Tsubasa admonished with an amused smile as the four of them were let go as Tsubasa placed her hand on Maria's shoulder.

"But I'm not." Maria whined and then clung to Tsubasa's arm.

"I have a feeling I shouldn't have said that." Kirika coughed a little, finally being able to breathe again.

"Maria usually gives the warmest hugs but that's a little…" Shirabe trailed off as she caught her breath.

"Feel our suffering." Chris muttered under her breath.

"So." Tsubasa cleared her throat. "We would like to thank all of you for this wonderful dinner." Tsubasa said, her speech formal.

"It was the best dinner I had ever, ever had." Maria nodded, looking serious even as her words were very uncharacteristic.

"It was our pleasure!" Hibiki chirped happily.

"I apologize that it had to be cut short." Tsubasa then bowed to them in apology and Maria mimicked her before bursting into laughter, as if she found the act extremely funny.

"It's fine. Just get her to bed or something already." Chris waved away the apology as she pointedly looked at Maria.

"I'll give her a hangover cure tomorrow morning." Elfnein smiled widely. Tsubasa gave a nervous chuckle as she remembered how Chris, Kirika and Shirabe were confined in the infirmary because of her flavor enhancer before.

"Okay guys!" Kirika then looked at the others with a glint in her eyes and they instantly understood. They all then bowed to the two of them. "Please take care, Ojou-sama!"

"Thank you." Tsubasa bowed one last time while Maria exclaimed something they couldn't understand, giggling all the while before she was whisked away by Tsubasa.

"Well that is officially over!" Kirika announced in relief. There were a few minor hiccups along the way and the appearance of Drunk!Maria was definitely not something they were expecting but one can consider that the dinner was a success. "We've done it everyone! Operation Love Love Idol Connection is a success!" Kirika gave them the 'V' for victory sign and everyone clapped, even Chris.

"Thank you so much for helping us." Shirabe told them with a sincere smile. "This wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for everyone here."

"You're welcome! It was really fun too." Hibiki grinned brightly while Miku and Elfnein nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, so what are you guys going to do next?" Chris then asked as she crossed her arms.

"Huh?" Kirika asked, confused. "We'll clean up?"

"I didn't mean that, you idiot." Chris growled. "What are you going to do after?"

"I don't get what you mean." Shirabe asked, mirroring Kirika's confusion.

"What, isn't your goal to get the two of them together?" Chris asked with raised eyebrows.

"Isn't this enough?" Kirika asked, looking genuinely lost.

"What? That was one date! Or two if you count the movies. I think that's hardly enough for them to get together like you want." Chris pointed out with raised eyebrows.

Kirika and Shirabe looked at each other for a few more seconds as the reality of Chris' words sunk in. They were so focused on the dinner date that they thought that if they succeeded then it equates to Maria and Tsubasa getting together. Chris made them realize the horrible truth; their victory here was just one battle, they were still far away from winning the war.

"EHHHH?!"

* * *

Meanwhile…

Tsubasa sighed in relief when she finally managed to get Maria in her room. She had to support Maria as she was drunk and not really in a position to walk unaided. When Maria insisted on walking on her own, she just ended up stumbling and almost faceplanting on the floor.

Tsubasa then gently lowered Maria on her bed amid Maria's sleepy giggles and murmurs of incomprehensible words. When she stood back up, Maria looked up at her with lidded eyes before she grinned widely. Tsubasa didn't really expect it when Maria's hand shot forward and pulled her down and she ended up on top of Maria.

"Maria!" Tsubasa gasped as she was captured in Maria's tight embrace.

"Stay with me." Maria purred as she nuzzled Tsubasa's cheek. Maria was obviously drunk, sleepy and clingy but her antics only made Tsubasa amused as Maria would never be this touchy feel if she was sober. It was a little cute but it would probably be better if Maria wasn't so sensitive and emotional while drunk. It shocked everyone else to see Maria like this and Tsubasa's lips curled into a small smile as she remembered the priceless look on Chris' face when Maria started bawling.

"Alright." Tsubasa chuckled softly. Tsubasa then tried to stand back up to remove her shoes and Maria's but Maria gave out a soft whining sound and tightened her hold. "Could you at least let me remove our shoes?" Tsubasa requested softly. Maria grumbled low in her throat but let Tsubasa go and Tsubasa stood up to quickly do her task. When she was finished, Tsubasa gently nudged Maria aside so that the older woman would move and she could remove the blanket that Maria was lying on. Tsubasa then covered Maria in the blanket before she also slipped underneath it as it was still pretty cold in the sub even if it was almost summer. Tsubasa was now lying beside Maria and she embraced Maria's waist almost possessively. Maria hummed in contentment as she easily settled against Tsubasa.

"You need to go sleep now." Tsubasa murmured as she nuzzled Maria's neck.

"…Okay." Maria didn't raise a fuss as she too smiled widely before she settled into Tsubasa's embrace to go to sleep.

"Good night Maria." Tsubasa murmured in her ear and Maria responded in kind before the couple fell asleep.


	8. Revelations

"What should we do, Shirabe?!" Kirika exclaimed as she paced to and fro their quarters in the new SONG sub. She looked over at her partner who was silent as a grave, sitting on the bed.

"I don't know Kiri-chan." Shirabe admitted, looking quite lost.

"Tsubasa-san is going to leave for London soon and she still isn't together with Maria!" Kirika wailed loudly like the world is about to end. Again.

It's been a week since the relatively successful dinner and as Chris pointed out then, it would take some more time and more dates before Tsubasa and Maria would even consider being together romantically. As they all have been busy as of late with all that happened about saving the world from Carol, worrying about the dying Elfnein and of course their exams. It was only now that things were starting to die down. Tomorrow, the Symphogear users would all finally be released from active duty and they would be relatively free to do what they wanted until they were called on again. Thus, no one was really surprised when Tsubasa announced that she would be going back to London to pursue her singing career once again.

And that is why Kirika and Shirabe were panicking, as there was the chance that their fears would become realized; Tsubasa could potentially meet someone in London and they would sweep her off her feet, leaving Maria alone forever.

"We've only got a few days before Tsubasa-san would leave to go back to London. If we don't act now it'll be too late!" Kirika flailed her arms in emphasis. To celebrate their victory and Elfnein's recovery, the Symphogear users along with Miku and Elfnein would go to the summer festival and there would also be a sleepover at Chris' apartment. Tsubasa was scheduled to leave two days after that.

"Then desperate times call for desperate measures." Shirabe said in calm determination, a steely glint in her eyes.

"You have an idea, Shirabe?" Kirika asked her hopefully.

"We should go and talk to Maria and ask her to come with Tsubasa too." Shirabe said, perfectly serious.

"D-dess?!" Kirika yelped a little in shock. "That's really direct Shirabe!"

"I know Kiri-chan but we've run out of time." Shirabe nodded somberly. "We both know that Maria really loves singing with Tsubasa-san. We can convince Maria to pursue her singing career with her!" Maria had pretty much confessed that anyway, back when the three of them thought they were going to die in that awful Chateau de Tiffagues. It was the next best thing to an outright confession since the two idols would at least be in close proximity. Way better than having Maria stuck here in Japan with Tsubasa alone, single and desirable in London.

"Yeah, that's the best that we can do now. At least they'll be together." Kirika thought only for a moment before she agreed to Shirabe's suggestion. It's not like they have the luxury of time anymore. They needed to move and fast. "Let's go talk to her right now!"

At Shirabe's nod, the two of them left their room to go to Maria's room. When they arrived in front of the door, they practically barged in the room, going through together as they totally ignored the intercom, not bothering to announce their presence to the occupant of the room.

"Mari-" Kirika opened her mouth but as soon as she saw Maria her words died down in her throat and her jaw unhinged itself and dropped to the floor. Beside her, Shirabe looked no better as she gaped, her eyes as wide as saucers.

Seeing Maria naked was no big deal. How many times have they taken a shower together for years now? However, seeing Maria naked on top of an equally naked Tsubasa on Maria's bed was absolutely shell-shocking and neither of them could do nothing but stare, their brains having shut down.

Maria looked as shocked as the two did, her hair unbound and hardly hiding her bare body. She was frozen on top of Tsubasa, who only had the same wide-eyed look like Shirabe. It felt like an eternity passed as the two pairs stared at each other. The moment was abruptly broken when Maria screamed, most likely breaking some eardrums with how high-pitched and loud it was.

Kirika's panic-induced reaction was also to scream. "DEEEEEEESS!" Shirabe and Tsubasa were both too stunned to scream or do much of anything really. However outside of this scene, several people heard the screams. The first to arrive was Chris, practically tripping over her feet in her haste to get to the source of the screams.

"Hey! What's wrong!?" Chris burst out from behind the still unmoving Kirika and Shirabe. Chris' sudden arrival jumpstarted both Maria and Tsubasa as both scrambled to cover themselves with the blanket. As for Chris, she only caught a glimpse of the two idols and she immediately understood what had happened. Wisely, she chose not wanting to do anything with the unfolding drama as she slowly backed away back into the corridor.

"What happened!?" Chris then winced a little when Hibiki appeared with a concerned Miku and Elfnein in tow. Knowing that it was better for all of them to leave and not let anyone else see what she saw(which will probably haunt her for days or maybe even weeks), Chris quickly stopped Hibiki from coming closer by taking a hold of her ear.

"Ow, ow!" Hibiki yelped in pain as she was abruptly stopped and Chris began dragging her away. Chris also took hold of Elfnein's arm with her other hand and Miku could only stop as well before bewilderingly following the trio.

"Chris-san?" Elfnein questioned in confusion as she was effortlessly dragged away.

"Nothing to see there. It's better if we just leave if you don't want to see something that will scar you for life." Chris told them dryly. A solemn look of understanding passed Miku's face and she didn't bother questioning anymore.

"Eh? Ehh? But Chris-chan what about the screams?" Hibiki asked worriedly as Chris let her ear go after they walked a few corridors away. Hibiki stumbled a little before she could stand up properly, rubbing her aching ear.

"They're all fine. Just saw something not entirely pleasant." Chris replied tersely. Both Hibiki and Elfnein looked at each other in utter confusion.

"It's better if you don't ask." Miku said wisely and Chris nodded emphatically.

"What just happened?" Elfnein could only wonder and Hibiki just shrugged.

* * *

Kirika and Shirabe have yet to recover from their ordeal as they stood awkwardly in the middle of their room. They had finally snapped from their shock to spit out incoherent apologies before hightailing it back to the sanctuary of their room. Both honestly did know what to make of what happened and they still sported utterly bewildered looks as they stared into space with red faces. They both jumped in fright when the intercom in their room buzzed, signaling that someone was on the other side of the automatic doors. Kirika and Shirabe looked at each other before Kirika ambled forward to open the door.

Standing at the door were Maria and Tsubasa, both fully dressed except for their still unbound hair to Kirika's intense relief. However, that relief faded when she was inevitably reminded of what they stumbled upon earlier and she blushed fiercely. Maria didn't really look any better as she was even more flustered than Kirika. Tsubasa looked relatively calm but there was an obvious blush on her cheeks.

"Can we come in?" Tsubasa cleared her throat rather loudly after a beat of silence.

"Oh right, sure." Kirika snapped out of her reverie and hastily stepped back to let Maria and Tsubasa come in. Shirabe mostly stared at them with her usual impressive and impassive stare while Kirika scrambled back to her side. Tsubasa was actually fidgeting and couldn't really meet their eyes while Maria looked like she was trying to look grave but her totally flustered look ruined the effect.

"Maria, what was that?" Shirabe was the first to speak after an uncomfortable silence. At the question, Maria looked horrified before she gave a loud, defeated sigh and awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Kirika, Shirabe." Maria began solemnly. "It's time I give you two the 'talk'." Tsubasa gave her own sigh of defeat at that.

"The 'talk'?" Kirika repeated, more curious than anything now.

"Is it about what we saw?" Shirabe asked with pursed lips. It was Tsubasa that nodded stiffly in answer.

"That was..." Maria paused as she seemed to collect her thoughts. "When two people love each other very much..."

"What?!" Both Kirika and Shirabe then chorused loudly together. Did they hear that right? Did Maria just admit to something indirectly? Something that they've been dying to hear for so long now?

"What?" Maria sounded startled and confused at their sudden outburst.

"So whatever it was that you were doing, you would only do with someone you love right?" Kirika asked hopefully as she concentrated on the part about love.

"Um, yes?" Maria answered slowly, a little jarred with the sudden line of questioning.

"So that means..." Shirabe could hardly believe it as she glanced back and forth between Maria and Tsubasa. "You love Tsubasa-san?" At yet another straightforward question, Maria's cheeks flamed along with Tsubasa's.

"Yes." Despite looking sheepish and embarrassed, there was no hesitation whatsoever in Maria's tone. In fact, her eyes had softened and she looked for the entire world like a lovesick puppy. Beside her, Tsubasa involuntarily smiled widely at Maria's answer. It was probably the widest smile they had ever seen on her face.

"Then you're both girlfriends?" Kirika was utterly shocked yet again as her brain shortcircuited for the second time in a span of a few minutes.

"Yes we are." This time it was Tsubasa who answered as she boldly laced her hand with Maria's. It took a few more seconds before the confession finally processed in Kirika and Shirabe's brains. Blessed relief slammed into them like a truck and they only knew one thing to do.

"I'm so glaaaad!" Kirika suddenly howled as the two of them burst into tears of relief and joy. Maria and Tsubasa actually loved each other and they're together romantically! All of the worry and panic they felt earlier wasn't necessary after all. The relief and happiness that both of them felt were just too much that they started crying.

"W-what's wrong, Kirika, Shirabe!?" Maria was startled and aghast at their reaction as she quickly closed the distance between them in concern. As soon as Maria was close enough, the two of them practically jumped on her, hugging her as tightly as they could. Maria gave out an 'oof' sound as she was tackled, her breath leaving her and she struggled to keep her balance.

"Everything is finally right." Shirabe sniffed happily. The vague answer did nothing to assuage Maria's worries and she looked over at Tsubasa who looked as concerned as she did.

"We're just so happy..!" Kirika then pulled away a little and gave Maria a teary but genuinely happy smile. Maria relaxed a little at the genuine happiness she can see on the two's faces so she opted to wait for the two of them to calm down. It didn't take long as the two stepped back and wiped their tears away.

"Are you sure you're both okay?" Maria had to ask once more, still a little concerned.

"Yeah, we were just a little surprised at what you said." Kirika laughed as she scrubbed away the last of her tears.

"Geez, you should've told us earlier." Shirabe pouted. Now that she thought about it, Maria should've told them about it as soon as it happened!

"I'm sorry. It just wasn't that important compared to everything else." Maria apologized with a slight wince.

"So when did you start dating? A few days ago? A week? Or something?" Kirika asked excitedly. Maria glanced at Tsuabsa as if in permission.

"Since we were in London." Tsubasa answered for Maria. Both Kirika and Shirabe froze once more in disbelief. Since they were in London?! That was way before Operation Love Love Idol Connection even started!

"So that means…" Kirika looked at Shirabe with wide eyes. "All our hard work then wasn't needed?" Both of them had horrible flashbacks of the letters, their confinement in the infirmary, the maid fitting from hell and everything else they went through.

"Then… What was that article we saw..?" Shirabe asked, thunderstruck as she remembered the article that started it all.

"Kirika? Shirabe?" Maria questioned, her brows furrowed. Realizing that Maria and Tsubasa were still there, Kirika caught Shirabe's eye and shook her head. Shirabe already got what Kirika was trying to say without a word and she nodded imperceptibly. This was not the time for them to think or talk about that. What they needed to focus on was the very good news that they have received and that there was something very important that they have to do.

Kirika and Shirabe then turned to Tsubasa with very serious faces. Tsubasa seemed to step back a little at the intensity of their stares but she steeled herself and adopted her usual cool and serious face to match them. Maria just looked wildly confused at what was happening.

"You better not make Maria cry." Kirika warned, her eyes narrowed and she looked quite threatening. Beside her, Shirabe looked like she was staring right through Tsubasa's soul.

"I cannot promise that." Tsubasa answered with a shake of her head. Kirika was actually little taken aback by Tsubasa's unexpected answer while Shirabe raised an eyebrow. "But I will make sure that the only tears that Maria will ever shed would be tears of joy." Tsubasa smiled warmly, her indigo eyes soft yet serious.

Both Kirika and Shirabe blushed a little at Tsubasa's sincere declaration. It made them feel just a bit giddy since Tsubasa looked so dashing as she said that. Behind them, Maria looked like she was about to swoon, her face burning. Shirabe coughed a little to keep her focus on their conversation. It also allowed Kirika to snap out of her own admiring daze. Kirika and Shirabe then glanced at each other before nodding as if in agreement. They surprised Tsubasa and even Maria when they both hugged Tsubasa tightly.

"Akatsuki? Tsukuyomi?" Tsubasa asked, shocked. She was surprised for only a moment longer before Tsubasa relaxed and hesitantly placed her hands on either of their backs as her awkward version of a hug.

"You take care of Maria okay?" Kirika told her as she looked up at Tsubasa with a large smile. "You're the only one we'll ever allow to be with Maria!"

"We'll come and hunt you down if you don't keep your promise." Shirabe stated, a glint of seriousness in her eyes.

"I shall try my best to always meet your expectations." Tsubasa smiled. "And if I do manage to unintentionally hurt her, you two will come and set me straight, I presume?"

"We'll come tearing your door down to yell at you." Shirabe promised with a single nod.

"You two…" Maria sounded both exasperated and fond as Kirika and Shirabe acted like they were her overprotective parents.

"And that goes for you too, Maria! You better not make Tsubasa-san cry too!" Kirika then looked back at Maria, now clinging almost protectively to Tsubasa.

"Chris-senpai and Hibiki-san would probably threaten you more if you hurt Tsubasa-san but we'll be there to scold you too." Shirabe said with a determined nod. Maria looked indignant for a moment before she laughed, unable to keep a straight face at how cute these two overprotective little sisters of hers were.

"Alright, alright. I get the message." Maria smiled as she approached the three of them and joined in the hug. "I'll take good care of Tsubasa too. That goes without saying." Maria then smiled affectionately at Tsubasa.

"Also, we'd better be the bridesmaids when you two get married!" Kirika grinned cheekily as both Kirika and Shirabe pulled away from the hug. Both Maria and Tsubasa's faces erupted into fierce blushes while Kirika and Shirabe laughed merrily at the looks on their faces.

* * *

"So… you two are together?" Chris asked almost suspiciously, her arms crossed as she half-glared at Maria and Tsubasa. Beside her Hibiki was gaping, Elfnein looked surprised but intrigued while Miku had a knowing look on her face.

"Yes." Tsubasa nodded seriously.

"Since London?" Chris asked again.

"Yes, Chris." Maria answered patiently.

"And you told us this just now because?" Chris asked once more, looking more pissed than anything.

"It wasn't all that important compared to the crisis we faced." Tsubasa answered with a shrug. There was silence for five seconds as Chris looked at the two of them piercingly before she sighed.

"Well, whatever." Chris then shrugged. "It's none of my business anyway." At her acceptance, Tsubasa was a little taken aback. She had thought with all the line of questioning that Chris would scold them or something to that line.

"Wow! Congratulations Tsubasa-san!" Hibiki seemed to finally snap out of her surprise and she smiled widely at the two of them.

"Congratulations!" Elfnein piped up, echoing Hibiki's words as she too smiled.

"I'm glad that you finally told us." Miku said as she smiled pleasantly up at them.

"Huh? Miku, you already knew?" Hibiki asked with wide eyes at her partner.

"Well, I suspected." Miku admitted. "It was obvious to me at least."

"We didn't really try hiding, just when we're out in public." Tsubasa confessed with a slight sheepish look on her face.

"So we really just didn't notice?" Elfnein looked more shocked about her observation skills failing her than anything.

"I totally had no idea." Hibiki exclaimed honestly as she looked at Miku with wide eyes.

"With all that has happened, our relationship would be the last thing you'll look at." Maria pointed out with a small smile. The four of them glanced at each other as they had war flashbacks of Operation Love Love Idol Connection.

"Right." Chris said flatly, rolling her eyes at how wrong Maria was. Hibiki and Elfnein laughed nervously at that. Both Maria and Tsubasa looked at them curiously at the unusual reaction. Just as it looked like they were about to ask, Hibiki frantically waved her arms.

"Ahhh, will you look at the time!" As if for emphasis, Hibiki pushed Elfnein and Miku along. In a rare moment of perceptiveness, Hibiki had a feeling that if Maria and Tsubasa continued looking at them like that she'd end up spilling things that are better left unknown by these two. "We need to be going now! Right Chris?" She asked hopefully, needing backup.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll see you guys later." Chris thankfully understood what Hibiki was trying to do and she decided to help her out a bit.

"Alright, we'll see you." Maria said, most likely not at all suspicious of their sudden exit. Tsubasa nodded to them in acknowledgement and Hibiki, Miku and Elfnein moved to leave.

"Oh, by the way." Chris turned back to the two of them, making sure that the others didn't hear. "Just… go do _that_ at home, okay?" Chris then said as she waved, hiding her blush from the two as she faced forward again. Immediately, Maria and Tsubasa realized what Chris was referring to and they both flushed in embarrassment and horror.

* * *

"It's almost hard to believe that Maria and Tsubasa-san are really together." Kirika commented dreamily as both she and Shirabe were on their stomachs on top of their shared bed, their elbows and arms side by side as they talked.

"It was a real surprise, especially since we thought that Tsubasa-san had someone else." Shirabe nodded in understanding. Most of the shock with that news had already abated but Shirabe wasn't sure if the shock of what they witnessed that led to the reveal of Maria and Tsubasa's true relationship would disappear anytime soon. Mostly, Shirabe did not just want to think about it.

"I wonder what Maria meant when she was supposed to give us the talk." It seemed that Kirika's mind had also wandered to that particular incident even as her eyes were trained on her phone. "We sort of just forgot about that with their confessions." Shirabe just shrugged in response, not really keen on thinking about that incident again.

"I think it's better if we forgot about that Kiri-chan." Shirabe said wisely and Kirika shrugged and let the subject go.

"Ha! Found it!" Kirika exclaimed in triumph as she finally found that blasted article they saw that led to them to establish Operation Love Love Idol Connection in the first place. She opened the damn article this time and Shirabe shuffled closer so that she can properly see the article on Kirika's phone. They were immediately greeted with a picture of Tsubasa with a pink-haired woman wearing yellow sunglasses and clinging to her arm. There was no doubt of who the pink-haired woman was, especially with how her hair was worn.

"This is Maria…" Shirabe pointed out calmly, recognizing her instantly even with her sunglasses on. Both of them glanced at each other at that before they both sighed in defeat. They had indeed panicked unnecessarily that day. Why oh why didn't they even bother to read the article in the first place?

"Well… We had a lot of fun anyway." Kirika then decided to just let the past go. A lot of unfortunate things happened during their attempts to get Maria and Tsubasa together and they wasted a lot of money (Kirika and Shirabe tried not to think about the money too hard) but Kirika will not deny that they had a lot of fun with Chris and the others.

"Yeah… And we had our share of successes too." Shirabe agreed with a little fond smile as she slipped her hand in Kirika's as she tossed her phone away.

"I guess instead of getting Maria and Tsubasa-san together, we all got closer instead." Kirika giggled, referring to their strengthened bonds with the others because of all the things that they went through in their quest. Shirabe laughed softly in agreement.

"Maybe after they return from London, we'll treat them to dinner again." Shirabe pondered outloud. Even though Maria and Tsubasa were together now, they might need help on staying together. It'll be their job to help with that, right?

"Yeah! And we'll get them to go to a proper date next time in a fancy restaurant." Kirika nodded vigorously. And of course, they'll watch over them and this time they have to see some sweet moments! "Maybe we should get them some couple shirts too…" They'd both probably look adorable wearing those corny couple shirts. Maybe she'll buy some too so that she can wear a matching couple shirt with Shirabe.

"That sounds like a good idea, Kiri-chan." Shirabe said as the two continued on with even more plans to 'help' Maria and Tsubasa's relationship continue to be good and romantic.

"Do you think they'll let us plan the wedding?" Kirika mused with the largest, excited grin ever.

"That's a little too far away but I'm sure that Maria'll let us help." That's going to be a fun time! Shirabe can hardly even wait.

"And in the meantime, we'll need to get better at planning and stuff." Kirika pointed out. "We should practice some more."

"We're going to have to set up more dates for Maria and Tsubasa-san, maybe even Hibiki-san and Miku-san." Shirabe nodded in agreement. Since they had some experience, why not make matchmaking a hobby or something.

"And then we'll have to help set up Chris-senpai with someone." Kirika suggested, as Chris is the only single one among them now.

"Yeah, and since we got a little better at matchmaking, I'm sure we can help get Chris-senpai together with someone too!" Shirabe sounded confident now and Kirika nodded vigorously.

"Operation Love Love Idol Connection is going to continue forever DESS!" Kirika proclaimed with all enthusiasm and happiness with Shirabe clapping her agreement.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Chris shivered as a sudden foreboding chill went through her spine. She glanced up from the book she was reading and frowned.

"What was that? I feel like there's something bad that's going to happen…" Chris mumbled as she shifted uneasily. She looked around her room, tense and weary. After a few moments, nothing seemed to be amiss and she reluctantly relaxed.

"Just my imagination..?" Chris's brows furrowed before she shrugged and continued her reading.

* * *

Meanwhile in another place…

"Tsubasa, didn't Chris tell us to do this at home?" Maria gasped, her hands placed on Tsubasa's shoulders as she half-heartedly tried to push her away. Tsubasa didn't look deterred at all as she tightened her embrace on Maria's waist, her lips nibbling and sucking Mara's pale throat.

"I'm only finishing what was interrupted earlier." Tsubasa pointed out, her voice muffled as she didn't stop her ministrations. All of Maria's flimsy reluctance faded away when Tsubasa moved upward to nibble her ear, a veritable weak spot of hers. "Besides, I will not wait until we get home just to have you."

"You're incorrigible." Maria couldn't help but laugh a little but it quickly turned into a moan as Tsubasa captured her lips into a slow kiss.

"That's not what you told me last night." Tsubasa smirked, her eyebrow raised as she pulled away from the kiss and placed their foreheads together, their breaths mingling. By now, Maria's hands were under Tsubasa's blouse as she felt up Tsubasa's well-toned stomach.

"Did you at least lock the door?" Maria questioned breathlessly, her breathing increasingly heavier by the minute as her fingers had already grasped the hem of Tsubasa's blouse.

"I wouldn't make the same mistake twice." Tsubasa pointed out with her lips curled into another smirk. And with that, Tsubasa pushed Maria down on top of the bed to finish what was so rudely interrupted before.

* * *

Author's Note:

And that's the end of it! Thank you for all those who reviewed. I can't thank you enough for all of your support and reading this until the very end. It was a real fun ride and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you in particular to thechampionmike957, steng351, Supah Pudding, SkyWing, Super Unicorn, Rose of the Wind and all the other anonymous guest reviewers. Thank you all for taking the time to review.

And to that anon guest reviewer who kept on reviewing everyday for me to update, I'm a little flattered you kept on reminding me almost everyday. Can I take that to say that you really liked this story of mine?

Once again, thank you all!


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